A national survey of the contents of paranasal sinus CT reports in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the contents of paranasal sinus CT reports about clinically pertinent lesions and anatomic variations in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and analyze the lesions and the anatomic variations less described in CT reports to improve the quality of paranasal sinus CT reports.Methods:A national questionnaire survey on radiologists interpreting paranasal sinus CT was conducted online in March, 2020. Questions were focused on the frequency of the lesions or anatomic variations of the paranasal sinuses described in paranasal sinus CT reports, and the results were analyzed and compared among radiologists by different levels of the hospital, professional titles, years of CT reading experience, subspecialties, and education backgrounds.Results:A total of 6 525 valid questionnaires were obtained, in which 97.7%, 97.7%, and 92.8% of radiologists described mucosal thickening, hypertrophy of turbinate or deviation of the nasal septum, and space occupying lesions within paranasal sinuses in CT reports, respectively. Only 35.0%, 26.9%, and 22.5% of radiologists described frontal recess lesions, dehiscence of foramen rotundum or pterygoid canal, and anterior/posterior ethmoid artery anatomy in CT reports, respectively. The anatomic variations that predisposed patients to major surgical complications or recurrent rhinosinusitis were more frequently documented in CT reports by radiologists with experience of head and neck radiology, senior titles or more than 30 years of radiological experience in tertiary hospitals than other radiologists.Conclusions:Lesions within the paranasal sinus were almost documented in all paranasal sinus CT reports. However, the anatomic variations that predisposed patients to major surgical complications or recurrent rhinosinusitis were infrequently described, which needs to be optimized by improving the quality of paranasal sinus CT reports.