Sinusitis Forum - Sinus infection and deviated septum

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Q: Sinus infection and deviated septum

asked by: DoctorQuestion on March 26th, 2009

For as long as I remember I have suffered from upper respiratory infections througout winter. For the past 5 years I have also had lots of sinus infections.

At the moment I have conjunctivitus and a sinus infection and throat infection. I saw a ENT specialist who told me that I have a deviated septum. I had a CAT scan and have a list of things that this found. I am living abroad and am not sure of what all of these things mean. I have had the list translated including:
A wide retention cyst on the floor of the right maxillary sinus
Thick mucous on the floor of the left maxillary sinus
Obliteration? of the left osteomeatal complex
I think that this translation is strange - significant reduced passage ethmoid cell aeration
inferior nasal concha hypertrophy.
Are these conditions due to my current sinus infection or are they long term? Are any of them serious? Could surgery to correct my septum help these and could this stop winters of illness? Thank you for your help.

Replies(4)

Dr. Goce Aleksovski , MD

replied on March 26th, 2009

Sinusitis Answer A6141

According to the data you provided, you might be experiencing chronic sinusitis.
Your translation of the CAT scan is quite correct. It only needs several medical terms to be explained: retention cyst usually appears due to inflammation of some of the local mucosal glands; obliteration means narrowing that might turn into completely closing; the ethmoid cell (small normal cavities in the ethmoid bone) are not filled with enough air because the inflamed mucosa is swollen and replaces partially the air; the hypertrophy of the inferior nasal concha is caused by thickening of the chronic inflamed mucosa.
All these conditions indicate a chronic inflammation of the sinuses. The deviated septum might be one of the causes of the chronic inflammation because of the air turbulence it causes. Several surgical procedures are available both for treating the deviated septum and the inflamed sinuses. You might want to discuss these options with an ENT specialist.

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Comments (3)

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