부산대학교 도서관

We attempted to establish a method for a stage classification of the clinical state of chronic sinusitis in order to establish objective and quantitative parameters which describe the clinical state of the disease.Evaluation was performed on the basis of three factors : radiographic findings (R), the results of allergic examinations (A), and endoscopic nasal find-ings (N). The radiographic findings were classified into four grades (R0, R1, R2, and R3) by scoring the severity of the lesion using computed tomography. The allergic status was classified into three grades (A0, A1, and A2) representing no allergic disease, nasal allergy and asthma, respectively. Finally, the endoscopic nasal findings were classified into three grades (N0, N1, and N2) on the basis of the presence or absence of polyps, and the status of the middle meatus and olfactory cleft. These three classifications (R, A, N) were then globally assessed in order to classify each case into Stage I through V.The patients were treated conservatively by administering oral macrolide antibiotics (50 cases) or surgically by performing endoscopic endonasal surgery (217 cases).The results of this comparison revealed that the therapeutic results deteriorated as the pretreatment disease stage classification increased for both the conservative and surgical treatment approaches. Accordingly, it was concluded that this staging sys-tem accurately reflects the clinical state of chronic sinusitis and thus should be clinically useful.