Outcomes of endoscopic sinus surgery in chronic sinusitis cases complicated/ not complicated by bronchial asthma and eosinophilic infiltration of the sinus mucosa

BACKGROUND: Intractable sinusitis is, in most cases, complicated by bronchial asthma and severe eosinophilic infiltration of the sinus mucosa. Our aim here was to study the postoperative outcomes of chronic sinusitis complicated/not complicated by bronchial asthma and of cases with eosinophilic sinusitis/non-eosinophilic sinusitis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective analysis of the outcome of 180 patients with or without bronchial asthma and eosinophilic infiltration who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic sinusitis. The patients were divided into four groups by the presence/absence of asthma and presence/absence of eosinophilic infiltration of the sinus mucosa. One surgeon performed the ESS, and all the groups received the same postoperative treatment. RESULTS: The outcomes of ESS were significantly worse in the cases complicated by eosinophilic sinusitis and asthma, especially in relation to the incidence of smell disturbances and the endonasal findings. Patients suffering from chronic sinusitis without asthma showed good improvement following ESS. There was no significant differences in the outcome after ESS between cases of eosinophilic sinusitis and those with non-eosinophilic sinusitis among the patients without asthma. CONCLUSIONS: We contend that eosinophilic sinusitis without asthma may not represent intractable sinusitis. We wish to emphasize that complication by