Fungal diseases of the sinuses

With recent advances in medicine, fungal diseases are becoming not only better understood, but also increasingly important in the management of patients with paranasal sinus disease. Fungal sinus diseases run the gamut from allergic fungal rhinitis and allergic fungal sinusitis, through fungus balls, to invasive and fulminant fungal sinusitis. Allergic fungal sinusitis may be thought of as the sinus counterpart of allergic bronchopulmonary fungal disease. Patients typically are first seen with chronic sinusitis. They may be atopic, and the peripheral blood often shows elevated IgE levels and absolute eosinophil counts. Such patients may be managed conservatively, requiring only surgical drainage and corticosteroid therapy. Fungus balls are typified by the so-called "aspergilloma." Although patients often have some predisposing factor, such as local tissue hypoxia or massive fungal exposure, most patients are not immunocompromised. Fungus balls may be treated with the traditional Caldwell-Luc operation or with newer endoscopic procedures. Invasive or fulminant fungal sinusitis generally occurs in immunosuppressed patients and merits aggressive surgical excision and debridement, as well as systemic chemotherapy, usually amphotericin B. In this article, we review fungal disease of the paranasal sinuses and present findings from our review of patients with chronic sinusitis.