Correlation between preoperative clinical diagnosis and histopathological findings in patients with rhinosinusitis

The diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) or chronic rhinosinusitis with polyposis (CRSP) is typically clinical and based on the combination of medical history, physical examination, and imaging. The recommendation to perform surgery and the type of surgery is tailored to the diagnosis. The objective of this study is to determine the accuracy of preoperative clinical CRS or CRSP diagnosis in patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery.

This is a retrospective review of a case series of 380 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery for the preoperative clinical diagnosis of CRS or bilateral CRSP. Data regarding symptoms, nasal endoscopy, computed tomography findings, preoperative diagnosis, and postoperative histopathology results were collected.

The preoperative diagnoses were CRS (n = 180) and CRSP (n = 200). Two of the 180 patients (1.1%) with the preoperative diagnosis of CRS had a different postoperative histopathological diagnosis. The histopathology in both patients showed noncaseating granulomata, leading to a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Nine of the 200 patients (4.5%) with the preoperative diagnosis of CRSP had a different postoperative histopathological diagnosis. Of these nine patients, five had inverted papilloma (bilaterally in one instance); one had adenocarcinoma; one had squamous-cell carcinoma; one had chronic invasive granulomatous fungal sinusitis; and one had sinonasal sarcoidosis.

The preoperative clinical diagnosis can be inaccurate in patients with CRS and bilateral CRSP. The misdiagnosis is more common in CRSP, including patients with recurrent polyposis.