Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2004 May;47(5):444-447.

Correlation of Bacterial Cultures between the Middle Meatus and the Maxillary Sinus in Chronic Sinusitis

• Jang TY
• Shin JS
• Choi YS

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The identification of specific pathogens for chronic sinusitis is important for antibiotic treatment. By comparing endoscope-guided middle meatal cultures to intraoperative maxillary sinus cultures, we tried to determine whether middle meatal cultures can replace maxillary sinus cultures as a noninvasive alternative. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Twenty-two patients with chronic sinusitis, who didn't respond to medical therapy and recieved endoscopic sinus surgery were selected. We collected preoperative middle meatal samples and intraoperative maxillary sinus samples from twenty two patients under end-oscopic visualization using strile cotton swabs. RESULTS: In 18 of the 22 samples (82%), endoscope-guided middle meatal cultures correlated well with the intraoperative maxillary sinus cultures. In both middle meatus and maxillary sinus samples, most frequently encountered microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus. CONCLUSION: Noninvasive middle meatal cultures correlate well with maxillary sinus cultures, and can be confidently used as an alternative.

Keyword

Sinusitis; Bacteriology; Maxillary sinus

MeSH Terms

Bacteriology
Humans
Maxillary Sinus*
Sinusitis*
Staphylococcus aureus