We sought to correlate the clinical, radiographic, and bacteriologic findings in maxillary sinusitis in 30 children who had both upper-respiratory-tract symptoms and abnormal maxillary radiographs. Cough, nasal discharge, and fetid breath were the most common signs, but fever was present inconsistently. Facial pain or swelling and headache were prominent symptoms in older children. Bacterial colony counts of greater than or equal to 10(4) colony-forming units per milliliter were found in 34 of 47 sinus aspirates obtained from 23 children. The most common species recovered were Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Branhamella catarrhalis. No anaerobic bacteria were isolated. Viruses were isolated from only two sinus aspirates. There was a poor correlation between the predominant species of bacteria recovered from either the nasopharyngeal or throat culture and the bacteria isolated from the sinus aspirate. This study demonstrates that children with both upper-respiratory-tract symptoms and abnormal sinus radiographs are likely to harbor bacteria in their sinuses, suggesting that such children have bacterial sinusitis.

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The maxillary sinuses of 20 patients (median age, 15 years) with cystic fibrosis were examined with ultrasound, radiography, and transantral sinus aspiration (14 bilateral and six unilateral for a total of 34 aspirates). The sinus aspirations were performed with careful sterile techniques, and the material that was recovered was cultured quantitatively for both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Nineteen (95%) of the 20 patients had at least one positive (greater than or equal to 10(4) colony-forming units/ml) culture of sinus aspirate. The organisms most commonly recovered from the sinus aspirates were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (13), Haemophilus influenzae (10), streptococci (five), and anaerobes (five). There was no association between the bacterial species recovered from the sinus and the predominant bacterial species in the nasopharyngeal, throat, or sputum culture. Although most patients had been chronically receiving therapeutic oral doses of antimicrobial agents, bacteria sensitive to the antimicrobial agents that the patient had been taking (excluding P. aeruginosa) were recovered from the sinuses of nine of these 10 patients.

Birth-associated head and neck trauma is rare. However, mechanical birth-associated trauma must be considered when assessing anomalies, injuries, respiratory difficulty, or feeding difficulties in the neonate or infant. A comprehensive approach is required to diagnose and manage these patients.