Prevalence of maxillary sinusitis in leprous individuals from a medieval leprosy hospital

The maxillary sinuses of 133 skeletons from the medieval hospital of St. James and St. Mary Magdalene, Chichester, England, were analyzed for evidence of sinusitis. Of the sample, 16 individuals were considered to have suffered from lepromatous leprosy and 13 from tuberculoid leprosy. The most common bone change seen within the sinuses was the presence of new bone formation followed by pitting. Bone change was seen in 56.3% (9 of 16) of the individuals with lepromatous leprosy and 54.8% (57 of 104) of nonleprous individuals. These results are not statistically significant. Clinical evidence suggests that one should see a higher frequency in the lepromatous group. Possible explanations of this include environmental factors promoting the spread of droplet infection in an immunosuppressed community, in addition to which the small sample of leprous skeletons may bias the result.