Clinical, radiological, and histopathological patterns of allergic
fungal sinusitis: a single center retrospective study
Abstract
Objectives: Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) has unique clinical
symptoms, radiology, and histopathological patterns. It is easy to be
misdiagnosed because of the low detection rate of fungi. The purpose of
this study was to improve the diagnostic rate by analyzing these data of
the clinical, radiology and pathological of AFRS. Methods: The data of
patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) treated in the Department of
Otolaryngology-Head and neck surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of
University of Science and technology of China (USTC) from January 2015
to December 2020 were analyzed. The discharged patients diagnosed with
AFRS and the suspected cases in the description of radiology or surgical
records were reviewed, combined with specific immunoglobulin E (IgE)
examination, they were divided into three groups: AFRS, suspected AFRS
and fungal ball sinusitis (FBS). The age, gender, eosinophils and
basophils in peripheral blood, total serum IgE, invasion of sinuses,
bone erosion, computed tomographic (CT) Lund-Mackay score, whether
accompanied with allergic rhinitis, asthma, and olfactory hypothyroidism
were all analyzed. Results: 631 patients with non-invasive fungal
sinusitis were treated in the past 6 years. 29 cases of AFRS, 69 cases
of suspected AFRS and 533 cases of FBS. A total of 98 confirmed and
suspected AFRS cases were identified, with an average age of 34.3 years.
79 cases of multiple paranasal sinus invasion and 55 cases of bilateral
paranasal sinuses. 25 cases with bone erosion. There were no significant
differences in age, eosinophils percentage, basophils percentage, total
serum IgE, CT Lund-Mackay score, combined with allergic rhinitis, asthma
and hypoolfactory between AFRS and suspected AFRS. However, significant
differences were observed in the above indicators between AFRS or
confirmed AFRS and FBS. Conclusion: AFRS may be misdiagnosed due to the
low detection of fungi. Clinical, laboratory, radiology and
histopathological need to focus on improving the detection rate of fungi
in AFRS. In order to reduce the recurrence of the disease, we can
consider the diagnosis of AFRS for patients with clinical, radiology and
immunological characteristics consistent with AFRS but without fungal
etiology