Nasal Endoscopy as an Effective Alternative for CT-Scan in Diagnosing Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Clinical Study and Review of Literature

Impairment mechanism of nasal mucosa after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

The nasal mucosa, which performs the crucial functions of filtering, humidifying and temperature regulation, is one of the most vulnerable areas of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after radiotherapy (RT). Following RT, NPC patients experience a series of pathological changes in the nasal mucosa, ultimately leading to physiological dysfunction of the nasal epithelium. This article systematically reviews the clinical and pathological manifestations of RT-related nasal damage in NPC patients and summarizes the potential mechanism of damage to the human nasal epithelium by RT. Finally, we outline the current mechanistic models of nasal epithelial alterations after RT in NPC patients and provide additional information to extend the in-depth study on the impairment mechanisms of the nasal mucosa resulting from RT. We also describe the relationship between structural and functional alterations in the nasal mucosa after RT to help mitigate and treat this damage and provide insights informing future clinical and fundamental investigations.

A Prospective Correlation Study Between Computerized Tomography of Paranasal Sinuses and Nasal Endoscopy Findings in Patients of Chronic Rhinosinusitis Undergoing Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

In order to diagnose chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), diagnostic nasal endoscopy (DNE) and computed tomography (CT) scan both are important investigations. But both have their pros and cons, some findings are seen better in DNE and others in CT. Our study aims to correlate DNE and CT findings. 50 patients with CRS were included in this observational prospective study done at tertiary care hospital. Preoperative each patient underwent DNE and got CT scan followed by scoring using Lund Kennedy and Lund Mackay grading respectively. Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) was performed and intraoperative findings were correlated with CT scan for each of them. The sensitivity of endoscopy was 93.18% and the specificity was 83.33%. Positive predictive value of DNE was 97.62% and negative predictive value was 62.50%. Most of the endoscopy positive patients of CRS were CT positive. Also, the sensitivity of CT PNS was highest for all groups of sinus disease while specificity was high for posterior group of sinuses (81.82%) and frontal sinus (89.19%). Both DNE and CT scan should be used for planning the management of CRS. DNE tells better about middle meatal secretions, condition of mucosa, polyps. But in situations where due to anatomical variation DNE is difficult, CT scan helps us. CT identifies the extent of disease, the anatomical variants and vital relations of PNS. Overdiagnosis through CT is checked by DNE.