Olli-Pekka Alho, MD Kirsi Ylitalo, MD Kalevi Jokinen, MD Juhani Laitinen, MD Ilkka Suramo, MD Hanna Tuokko, PhD Markku Koskela, MD Matti Uhari, MD Oulu, Finland Submitted, revised, July 10, 2000. From the departments of Otorhinolaryngology (O.A., K.Y., K.J.), Radiology (J.L., I.S.), Medical Microbiology (H.T.), and Pediatrics (M.U.), University of Oulu, and the Microbiology Laboratory of Oulu, University Hospital (M.K.). Reprint requests should be addressed to Olli-Pekka Alho, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital, Kajaanintie 52, FIN-90220, Oulu, Finland. E-mail: opalho@cc.oulu.fi.
References
Conclusions
Patients with a history of recurrent sinusitis have more severe symptoms and have radiologic sinusitislike changes more often during common colds than patients with no history of sinusitis. This may result in overdiagnoses of bacterial sinusitis for patients with an earlier history of sinusitis. A pathogen-positive nasopharyngeal culture has been shown sensitive for bacterial sinusitis. Therefore, a strategy of culturing nasopharyngeal secretions of the patients suspected of having bacterial sinusitis and treating only the patients who have pathogenic bacteria in their nasopharynx would help physicians avoid unnecessary prescriptions of antimicrobials. We recommend such a strategy for sinusitis-prone patients
