Image-Guided Sphenoidotomy in Revision Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

The application of image-guided systems to sinus surgery is gaining in popularity. This study tried to evaluate the efficacy of image-guided surgery (IGS) in the fenestration of the sphenoid sinus in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) who received revision functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). A total of 51 CRS patients who received revision FESS incorporating IGS between January 2010 and August 2011 by two surgeons were enrolled in this study. A group of 30 CRS patients who underwent revision FESS by the senior surgeon without incorporating IGS was chosen for comparison. The penetration rates for the sphenoid sinus were 91.2% when performed by the senior surgeon with IGS and 91.3% when done by the other surgeon with IGS. The penetration rate for the sphenoid sinus was 68.6% for revision FESS without IGS. The fenestration rate for the sphenoid sinus in revision FESS without IGS was significantly lower than that in revision FESS with IGS (p = .004). Our results showed that IGS was a beneficial procedure for opening the sphenoid sinus in the revision cases

Validation of the Applicability of the Traditional Chinese Version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis

The 40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) is the most widely used smell test in the world. Presently, culturally modified versions of this test are available in multiple languages. A traditional Chinese version of the UPSIT (UPSIT-TC) has been developed for administration in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the UPSIT-TC in Taiwanese patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The phenylethyl alcohol (PEA) odor detection threshold test, the North American version of UPSIT (UPSIT-NA), and the UPSIT-TC were administered to 40 healthy subjects and to 100 CRS patients before and after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). The UPSIT-TC showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.887, 0.886, and 0.870 at three test occasions) and test-retest reliability (p < 0.001). The scores of UPSIT-TC were significantly correlated to the PEA thresholds (p < 0.001). The UPSIT-TC scores were significantly higher than those of the UPSIT-NA (p = 0.028) when analysis was performed with logistic regression with independent variables including test occasions (before or after FESS), test methods (UPSIT-NA or UPSIT-TC), status of polyp (with or without), and PEA thresholds (improved or did not improve). In addition, there were significant between-group differences in UPSIT-TC scores including healthy versus CRS, CRS with polyps versus CRS without polyps, and PEA thresholds improved versus PEA thresholds which did not improve. The UPSIT-TC is reliable and valid for measuring olfactory function in Taiwanese patients with rhinosinusitis. In addition, the UPSIT-TC clearly resulted in better performance than that of UPSIT-NA