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Advancing the Understanding, Treatment of Sinus Complaints

by Lara Pullen •

Pathophysiology of Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Approximately 25% of patients with olfactory disturbances have CRS. Camilo Reyes, MD, a current fellow in the rhinology-skull base surgery program at the Medical College of Georgia-Augusta University in Augusta, Ga., measured improvement in olfactory disturbances in patients with CRS using the Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores at first and last postoperative visit. The study included 134 patients with CRS: 87 with eosinophilic CRS (eCRS) and 47 with non-eosinophilic CRS (neCRS). The researchers found that patients with eCRS had higher preoperative olfactory experience than patients with neCRS. Additionally, approximately two-thirds of patients in both groups demonstrated subjective improvement in olfaction after surgery. Thus, both the study group and control group had a significant post-surgery improvement in olfactory experience.

Lara Pullen is a freelance medical writer based in Illinois.

Take-Home Points

  • The use of antibiotics more than doubles the risk of developing CRS without nasal polyps.
  • Carbon filtration is less effective for the preparation of nasal saline irrigant; boiling and ultraviolet treatment resulted in sterilization.
  • Patients with eosinophilic CRS had higher preoperative olfactory experience than patients with non-eosinophilic CRS.