Complications of frontal and ethmoid sinusitis

Abstract

A small percentage of patients with acute frontal or ethmoid sinusitis develop orbital, cranial or CNS complications. At selected University of Tennessee affiliated hospitals, from 1974 to 1978, there were 14 such cases which required major surgical intervention in addition to intensive medical therapy. The most common complication in this series was subperiosteal orbital abscess. The most common bacterial isolates were streptococcus and staphylococcus. A discussion of complications associated with frontal and ethmoid sinusitis is included as well as recommendations for medical and surgical management.

The prevalence of intracranial complications in pediatric frontal sinusitis

“…Curiously, there was a surge in the number of reports from the latter half of the 7th decade of the 20th century, which probably coincided with the introduction and wider use of modern imaging technology. However, the majority of these publications took the form of case reports, and case series of complicated sinusitis [5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Only three publications attempted to study the prevalence of sinogenic intracranial complications within a specified period of time and are widely quoted despite the variation of their results [2][3][4].…”

The hot orbit: Orbital cellulitis

“…In the pediatric group, 91% of patients may have radiologically confirmed sinus disease, the most common being ethmoid and maxillary sinuses 15. Ethmoidal sinusitis has been demonstrated as the source of infection ranging from 43% to 75% of patients in various series 1415. Ethmoidal disease is usually present with maxillary infection on the same side 1516.…”

Mass in the Forehead of a Three-Year-Old Girl

“…In fact, before antibiotics, intracranial complications of frontal and ethmoid sinusitis were associated with a 100% mortality rate [60]. Since the introduction of antibiotics, there have only been 28 pediatric cases reported in the literature [61].…”