Effects of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma on the paranasal sinuses: study based on computed tomography scanning.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine if radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma causes mucosal disease of the paranasal sinuses.


METHODS
This study was a retrospective study.


METHODS
This study was conducted at a tertiary care centre.


METHODS
A series of 69 newly diagnosed patients, without pre-existing sinus disease, who were treated with high-dose radiotherapy participated.


METHODS
The prevalence, severity, and time course of mucosal abnormalities were analyzed, as judged by consecutive computed tomographies (CTs).


RESULTS
The CT study revealed that 58.8% of the postirradiation scans had mucosal disease of the sinuses. The maxillary sinus had the highest prevalence (42.3%) without statistical significance (p = .10). The difference by McNemar test for two follow-up scans was not significant (p = .48) and by Kappa test was significant (p = .04). The relationship between the prevalence and the time course post radiotherapy revealed that it remained a high prevalence until after the 4-year follow-up scans.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study confirm that chronic sinus disease is a common late complication of radiotherapy and it persists for years. Thus, aggressive treatment is indicated.
Chang
C C
CC
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan.
Chen
M K
MK
Wen
Y S
YS
Lee
H S
HS
Wu
H K
HK
Liu
M T
MT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D002648:Child; D005005:Ethmoid Sinus / Q000528:radiation effects; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008443:Maxillary Sinus / Q000528:radiation effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D010254:Paranasal Sinus Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000528:radiation effects*; D015995:Prevalence; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013101:Sphenoid Sinus / Q000528:radiation effects; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed