Clinical evaluation of the electronic nose in the diagnosis of ear, nose and throat infection: a preliminary study.

The term electronic nose describes an electronic system that is able to mimic the human sense of smell. Electronic noses have been developed over the last 10 or more years to perform a variety of identification tasks in various industries. More recently electronic noses have attracted new interest in their application in the field of medical diagnosis. The aim of this study is to explore the use of an electronic nose to identify and classify pathogens associated with ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections. In this study 90 bacterial swab samples were collected from 90 patients with ENT infections. Some of these samples were analysed immediately with a commercial electronic nose (Cyranose C320). Similar numbers of swabs were also taken from the same site of infection and were sent for microbiology culture and sensitivity. The electronic nose diagnosis was compared with the microbiology diagnosis and it was found that the electronic nose diagnosis was correct in 88.2 per cent of the cases, which is an encouraging result.

Cholesterol granuloma of the frontal sinus.

It is common to see cholesterol granuloma in the mastoid air cells, less common in the orbit, and uncommon in the paranasal sinuses. Cholesterol granuloma is thought to be due to an interruption to normal aeration with impaired lymphatic drainage, resulting in a closed cavity where it may form. These expanding cysts cause bone destruction and compression of the surrounding structures that lead to clinical symptoms. Diagnosis and management of cholesterol granuloma cysts can be challenging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomographic (CT) scans are usually diagnostic. We present a rare case of cholesterol granuloma in the frontal sinus, few cases have been reported in the literature.