Sinonasal anatomic variations and invasive fungal sinusitis

Sinonasal anatomic variations and invasive fungal sinusitis Objectives: Acute invasive fungal sinusitis (AIFS) can cause severe morbidity and mortality in immune deficient patients especially those with hematologic malignancies. Current study was aimed to determine the relationship between sinonasal anatomical variations and incidence of AIFS in these patients. Methodology: A case-control study was carried out on 103 patients with hematologic malignancies. Thirty-eight patients with histologically proven AIFS, were assigned to the case group and the remaining 65 patients were assigned to the control group. All cases were evaluated for the presence of normal nasal structural variations by endoscopic nasal examination and CT scan. Results: Data analysis revealed a significant relationship between tire presence of normal anatomic variations and occurrence of AIFS. This association was very strong in patients with nasal septal deviation. Conclusion: We concluded that anatomic normal variations should be considered as the predisposing factors for AIFS in patients with hematologic malignancy.