Effects of radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma on the paranasal sinuses: study based on computed tomography scanning.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma causes mucosal disease of the paranasal sinuses. DESIGN: This study was a retrospective study. SETTING: This study was conducted at a tertiary care centre. METHOD: A series of 69 newly diagnosed patients, without pre-existing sinus disease, who were treated with high-dose radiotherapy participated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence, severity, and time course of mucosal abnormalities were analyzed, as judged by consecutive computed tomographies (CTs). RESULTS: The CT study revealed that 58.8% of the postirradiation scans had mucosal disease of the sinuses. The maxillary sinus had the highest prevalence (42.3%) without statistical significance (p = .10). The difference by McNemar test for two follow-up scans was not significant (p = .48) and by Kappa test was significant (p = .04). The relationship between the prevalence and the time course post radiotherapy revealed that it remained a high prevalence until after the 4-year follow-up scans. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study confirm that chronic sinus disease is a common late complication of radiotherapy and it persists for years. Thus, aggressive treatment is indicated.