Introduction
Paranasal
sinusitis refers to inflammation of the paranasal sinuses as a result of
either infectious or noninfectious causes, and it is frequently
encountered in clinical practice. Although paranasal sinusitis is not a
life-threatening disease, it can
have
a substantial impact on health-related quality of life1 and, concurrently, increase the personal and social
economic burden due to the relatively high cost of treatment2, 3.
On the one hand, according to previous studies, the
prevalence
and patterns of sinusitis may vary by region and population and may
change with the course of time 4-7. However, these
studies diagnosed chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) based on standardized
surveys that may have introduced subjective bias to the results.
Additionally, individuals with asymptomatic sinusitis are likely to be
overlooked in such studies. On the other hand, many population-based
studies have determined smoking to be an important independent risk
factor for the development of CRS 8-10. A recent study
investigating 37 753 people in Korea found that, for every year of
active smoking, the prevalence of self-reported CRS increases by 1.5 %10. However, few studies have compared the
epidemiological and clinical characteristics of sinusitis between
smokers and non-smokers. In addition, because smoking may cause symptoms
that are similar to those of sinusitis, studying the relationship
between smoking and sinusitis from the perspective of symptoms alone is
challenging.
Meanwhile, with the application of imaging techniques, the high
incidence
of
incidental findings of sinus abnormalities across all age groups has
attracted attention 11-13. A recent report described a
case of asymptomatic sinusitis with a potential
glomerulonephritis-related origin 14. Previous studies
have confirmed that imaging findings are significantly related to
symptoms presented in patients with paranasal sinusitis15-17. Compared to computed tomography (CT), magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) does not use radiation and, additionally, does
not overstage or overclassify patients with sinus disease18. Therefore, the clinical application of MRI could
provide an ideal method for the objective detection of paranasal
sinusitis in the general population.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among individuals from two
communities in Shanghai, China.
This study aimed to provide
objective and reliable data on the prevalence of paranasal sinusitis
detected by MRI and to determine the effects of smoking on paranasal
sinusitis in a large population.