Balloon catheter sinuplasty in young children.
BACKGROUND
Balloon catheter sinuplasty (BCS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) was found to be successful in adults. The safety and feasibility of BCS in children has been recently established. The purpose of this study was to study the outcome of this technology in CRS in children.


METHODS
A prospective, multicenter, nonrandomized evaluation was performed on patients with CRS. Thirty-two children between the ages of 2 and 11 years were enrolled. Safety was assessed by rate of adverse events. Effectiveness was assessed using the Sino-Nasal (SN)-5 quality-of-life questionnaire for children with CRS at 52 weeks follow-up.


RESULTS
Thirty-two children were enrolled of which 24 completed their 52 weeks follow-up. No adverse events were reported because of the procedure. SN-5 score improved from a mean of 4.9 at baseline to a mean of 2.95 at 52 weeks (p < 0.0001). Twelve (50%) children had a significant improvement of their SN-5 (>-1.5), 7 (29%) had moderate improvement (>-1.0 and <-1.5), 2 (8%) had mild improvement (>-0.5 and <-1.0), 1 (4%) remained the same, and 2 (8%) had worsening scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Balloon catheter dilation of the sinus ostia in children was safe and a significant number showed improvement of their SN-5 at 1 year follow-up. Additional studies comparing balloon sinuplasty to other modalities of treatment in children are needed to determine its efficacy in the treatment of CRS in children.
Ramadan
Hassan H
HH
Department of Otolaryngology, P.O. Box 9200, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV 26506-9200, USA. hramadan@hsc.wvu.edu
McLaughlin
Kevin
K
Josephson
Gary
G
Rimell
Frank
F
Bent
John
J
Parikh
Sanjay R
SR
D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015508:Nasal Obstruction; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome