Clinical significance of unilateral sinusitis

Shin, Hong Soo

Abstract

In general, the etiologic factors of chronic paranasal sinusitis are systemic conditions such as nutrition, predisposition, allergy, and local factors such as nasal anatomic conditions. Among these factors, the development of unilateral sinusitis is a model case verifying the influence of local factors. In my study of 640 cases over a certain period of time, a comparison was made between 161 cases of unilateral sinusitis and 479 cases of bilateral sinusitis in order to verify the effects of local factors in the development of this disease. Patients with a history of previous sinus surgery or tumors were eliminated from the cases. 1. The male-female incidence rate, and the age distribution of the patients at the initial visit showed no prominent differences between unilateral and bilateral cases. 2. It was found that a larger number of cases of unilateral sinusitis had a duration of less than one year as compared to bilateral sinusitis which were longer than and year. Therefore it can be said that the duration of unilateral sinusitis is usually shorter than that of bilateral sinusitis. 3. In unilateral cases the patients with moderate to severe nasal septal deviation, one number of patients with septal deviation towards the diseased side was twice as high as that on the non-affected side. 4. The incidence rate of polyps occurring in the middle meatus was shown to be about twice as high in bilateral cases as in unilateral cases. 5. Comparing the size of the right and left maxillary sinuses, it was found that 103 cases (63.8%) of 161 patients with unilateral sinusitis showed a difference in size, and that only 171 cases (35.6%) of 479 patients with bilateral sinusitis showed a difference in size.