Clinical Characteristics of Patients Receiving Sinonasal Surgery after Neurologic Evaluation

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Magnetic resonance imaging is commonly used in neurologic examination of intracranial problems. Incidental abnormalities in the sinonasal area without clinical symptoms have been reported in about 38% of patients.SUBJECTS AND METHOD: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics of sinonasal surgical patients transferred from neurologists. Two hundred two patients were enrolled and divided into two groups. Group I patients had been directly transferred from the Neurology Department within 1 month after neurologic evaluation. Group II patients directly visited the Rhinology Department without a neurologic evaluation within the prior year. Both groups had received sinonasal endoscopic surgery or septal surgery. Clinical characteristics, pathologic findings, and surgical results were compared between groups.RESULTS: Headache and dizziness were common symptoms in group I. Group II patients displayed more severe sinus involvement with nasal symptoms. Fungal ball was the main pathologic finding in group I. Nasal polyps were common in group II. Most patients had improved symptoms after sinonasal surgery.CONCLUSION: Patients transferred from the Neurology Department had different clinicopathologic characteristics than patients without neurologic problems who had first been evaluated at the Rhinology Department.