Abstract
Background
Allergic rhinitis and sinusitis are frequent comorbidities in patients with bronchial asthma, and these nasal and sinus complications are reported to correlate with worsening of symptoms of asthma. Diagnosis of rhinitis and sinusitis are commonly diagnosed by clinical symptoms, X-ray, laryngoscope and sinus CT, but there are only a few reports of CT findings of sinus in patients with bronchial asthma.
Patients and Methods
From April 2010 to December 2011, 115 patients with bronchial asthma were enrolled in this study. Duration of disease, treatment steps (JGL2009), medications and symptoms of bronchial asthma (Asthma Control Questionnaire; ACQ, etc.), nasal symptoms (nasal discharge, nasal obstruction and nasal voice) and spirometry in addition to sinus CT findings were evaluated.
Results
Eighty-four patients (73%) showed sinusitis by sinus CT in these 115 patients. Nasal polyps were detected in 15 (13%) patients, and higher treatment steps were observed in patients with bronchial asthma complication sinusitis (p<0.05).
Nasal symptoms were detected in 76 (66%), and nasal voice (61, 53%) is significantly highly detected in patients with bronchial asthma complicating sinusitis. ACQ and parameters of pulmonary function were not significantly different in asthmatic patients with or without sinusitis.
Conclusion
Incidence of sinusitis in our study was relatively higher than the incidence of 66.3% previously reported by Matsuno et al. (2008). Patients with sinusitis detected by sinus CT tend to receive higher treatment steps, and it is speculated that sinus CT is useful for detecting and evaluating sinusitis as a complication of bronchial asthma.
- © 2012 ERS