Computed Tomographic Evaluation of Paranasal Sinus and Pathologies

Abstract

AIM:To assess the role of computed tomography in the evaluation of diseases involving paranasal sinuses and to correlate it with clinical diagnosis. METHODOLOGY: Patients with symptoms involving paranasal sinuses were evaluated by clinical and CT (Both axial and coronal sections) findings for management of patients. RESULTS: CT diagnosis had higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in diagnosing anatomic variants of PNS, chronic sinusitis, sinonasal polyps and other lesions in comparison to clinical diagnosis. However sensitivity of CT was not so high in diagnosing fungal sinusitis as seen with other lesions. But involvement of the bone by PNS lesions was always demonstrasted by the CT, which is the standard imaging modality to demonstrate it accurately. CONCLUSION: Pathological conditions of PNS are common and have a varied presentation in all the age groups. These are difficult to diagnose accurately on conventional plain films. CT imaging provides detailed information regarding involvement, location, extent of paranasal sinus diseases accurately and is an excellent alternatives to standard radiographs.