Relative frequency of sinusitis features in waters' radiographs of under 12 years old children referring to Isfahan city clinics

ABSTRACT

The maxillary sinuses are the first sinuses form in the embryonic period and begin to be pneumatized from 4 th year of life. Sinusitis is a common disease in children and its on-time diagnosis and treatment is very important to prevent relevant side effects. Unfortunately, in some medical centers Waters' radiography is routinely prescribed for the diagnosis of sinusitis, regardless of the trend of sinuses evolution in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Waters' radiography in diagnosis of children's sinusitis. This study was an observational, cross- sectional, and retrospective study. The samples included 180 of 0-12 years old children with sinusitis who had referred to Isfahan city clinics and the physicians had prescribed Waters' radiography for them. Required information was gathered via examination and enquiry into the patients' records. The radiographs were blindly surveyed by two radiologists [an oral and a general radiologist] and the data were statistically analyzed using the Chi-square and Kruskal - Wallis statistical tests. The coefficient of agreement between clinical signs and Waters' radiographic features in the samples was 52%.The greatest frequency rate of non - pneumatized sinuses was reported in the group of 3-years-olds and under. 30% of the maxillary sinuses were found to be normal in radiography [P=0.0005]. No difference was observed between sinusitis radiographic results, based on the time of involvement [P=0.219] and sex [P=0.546].Cough [%89.4] and nasal purulent excretions [%53.2] were the most common clinical symptoms of sinusitis. However, clinical signs in 2 groups of with positive radiographic results and with normal sinuses showed no statistically significant difference [0.11radiography is recommended not to be routinely used for children for some reasons such as non - pneumatization of sinuses, especially in the group of 3- years-olds and under; non - observation of sinuses; and a high percent of normal radiographic findings in Waters' radiographs, in spite of the existence of sinusitis clinical signs, except for special cases