Physiologic abnormalities in the paranasal sinuses during experimental rhinovirus colds

Six (18%) of 34 healthy, asymptomatic young adults had mucosal thickening or fluid in the paranasal sinuses on screening magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. When 19 of these subjects were challenged with rhinovirus, 18 became infected. Twelve of the 18 infected subjects had technically satisfactory serial MRI examinations, and four (33%) of these developed MRI abnormalities of the ethmoid or antral sinuses that were temporally associated with the acute infection. The mean total nasal secretion weights were 22 gm/5 days in the four subjects whose MRI abnormalities were associated with the acute infection compared with 5.5 gm/5 days in the eight subjects who had normal MRI examinations during the acute infection (p = 0.06). Abnormalities of the paranasal sinuses, which were associated with increased volumes of nasal secretion, were detected by MRI examination during rhinovirus infection. These abnormalities may have a role in the pathogenesis of acute sinusitis associated with colds.