Fungal rhinosinusitis: A clinicomorphological study in a tertiary institute

Introduction: There is a lack of proper landmark studies from South India on fungal rhinosinusitis. The varying clinical and histological presentations of fungal rhinosinusitis and lack of clinicopathological studies, prompted us to undertake this study. Materials and Methods: This study conducted over a period of 7 years at Goshen Institute of pathology (Madras medical college) one of the renowned premier institutes of Pathology in India. A total of 738 cases of sinusitis have been reported over the 7 years study period. The patients were of the age group from 12 to 92 years. All clinical data was retrieved from the patients' record file to study the emerging trend of fungal rhinosinusitis in this population of India. Result: A total of 738 cases were diagnosed as rhinosinusitis, of which 84 were of fungal etiology. It was observed in our study that the prevalence of fungal sinusitis is ~11.4%. Fungal rhinosinusitis was found to be little more common in male (55.3%). The age of patients ranged from 13yrs to 91yrs. The peak incidence was seen in 3rd to 5th decade of life. Conclusion: The study conducted in a tertiary care institute in Tamil Nadu has shown that that there is an increase in the incidence of fungal sinusitis. It is inferred from our study that the most common causative agent is mucormycosis followed by aspergillus. The prompt diagnosis of fungal rhinosinusitis is important due to the angio-invasive nature of the fungi requiring aggressive anti-fungal therapy.