A retrospective study in North Carolina by Miller et al indicated that various socioeconomic factors, including low income, residency in rural areas, low-quality housing, and reduced access to health care, are associated with the severity of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS). The investigators, whose study involved 93 patients, determined that the prevalence of AFS-associated bone erosion was greater in patients living in counties with a lower per-capita income or with older, poorer-quality housing, while patients with orbitocranial involvement tended to be found in rural counties with fewer primary care providers per capita. The study also concluded, however, that disease severity did not correlate with patients’ race, age, gender, or insurance status. [30] The potential for AFS recidivism is well respected and ranges from 10% to nearly 100%. Recurrence can be in the form of mucosal edema, as depicted in the first image below, polyps as depicted in the second image below, scarring, allergic mucin, or fungal debris. However, published rates of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) recurrence can be misleading and are highly dependent on length of follow-up study. To emphasize the importance of long-term surveillance, Bent and Kuhn pointed out that, in their experience, the often-dramatic initial response to surgical therapy eventually was replaced by recurrence of allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) in the absence of ongoing therapy.
Two-week postoperative endoscopic picture showing polypoid thickening already in the ethmoid cavities while the patient was still on tapering steroids; on the left is the lateral nasal wall. The right shows the middle turbinate next to the septum.
A polypoid recurrence in the center of the ethmoid cavity. The septum is on the left.
Similarly, Kupferburg et al monitored the appearance of sinonasal mucosa of 24 patients treated with combined medical and surgical therapy for allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS). Of the 24 patients, 19 eventually developed recurrence of disease after discontinuation of systemic corticosteroids, but the authors observed that endoscopic evidence of disease generally preceded return of subjective symptoms.
Allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) recidivism appears to be influenced by long-term postoperative therapy. Schubert and Goetz reported the long-term clinical outcome of 67 patients following initial surgical therapy for allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS). Patients treated with at least 2 months of oral corticosteroids were compared to those who received no corticosteroids. At 1 year following initial surgery, patients treated with oral corticosteroids were significantly less likely to have experienced recurrent allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS; 35%) than those who had not (55%). However, allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) recidivism remains high despite appropriate postoperative medical therapy. Fungal and nonfungal specific immunotherapy holds some potential as a form of postoperative treatment in patients with allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS), but clinical failures can arise during immunotherapy.
In a review of 42 patients who had received immunotherapy following surgery, Marple et al reported 4 recurrences of disease, which were attributed to noncompliance with immunotherapy or inadequate operative extirpation of allergic fungal mucin.
A study by AlQahtani et al found that in patients with unilateral allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS), the risk of contralateral postoperative development of the condition was increased when, prior to endoscopic sinus surgery, the contralateral side was symptomatic and demonstrated signs of inflammation. Contralateral sinus involvement was decreased in patients in whom budesonide irrigation was used postoperatively. [31]
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Left middle meatus with suctioning of thick allergic mucin from the ethmoid bulla in the center of the picture; the end of the suction is in the inferior portion of the picture.
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The viscosity of a thick allergic mucin being suctioned from the nasal cavity and vestibule in a patient with allergic fungal sinusitis.
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View just inside the nasal vestibule showing diffused polyposis extending into the anterior nasal cavity and vestibule; the septum is on the right, and the right lateral vestibular wall (nasal ala) is on the left. The polyps all are in the center. The polyps almost hang out of the nasal vestibule.
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A 15-year-old boy with allergic fungal sinusitis causing right proptosis, telecanthus, and malar flattening; the position of his eyes is asymmetrical, and his nasal ala on the right is pushed inferiorly compared to the left.
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A 9-year-old girl with allergic fungal sinusitis displaying telecanthus and asymmetrical positioning of her eyes and globes.
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Coronal CT scan showing extensive allergic fungal sinusitis involving the right side with mucocele above the right orbit and expansion of the sinuses on the right.
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Typical view of a middle meatus in a patient with allergic fungal sinusitis with expansion of the ethmoid complex and extension of the middle turbinate more inferiorly. This is a postoperative view.
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Coronal CT scan showing typical unilateral appearance of allergic fungal sinusitis with hyperintense areas and inhomogeneity of the sinus opacification; the hyperintense areas appear whitish in the center of the allergic mucin.
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Coronal MRI showing expansion of the sinuses with allergic mucin and polypoid disease; the hypointense black areas in the nasal cavities are the actual fungal elements and debris. The density above the right eye is the mucocele. The fungal elements and allergic mucin in allergic fungal sinusitis always look hypointense on MRI scanning and can be mistaken for absence of disease.
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Immediate postoperative 30° angled view showing the complete removal of polyps with a widened frontal sinus recess superiorly and widened ethmoid cavity in the mid portion. The middle turbinate is on the right, pushed against the septum. The lateral nasal wall is on the left.
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Fungal ball in the right maxillary sinus.
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Fungal debris being removed from the ethmoid complex. A suction device is seen in the right lower corner of the picture.
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Allergic mucin, fungal debris, and polyps are shown after removal from the patient. The scale is in inches.
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Coronal CT scan showing the postoperative view following removal of disease after significant disease recurred on both the right and left sides of the nasal cavity and sinuses; mild mucosal thickening of all involved sinuses is present, with some moderate thickening of the left maxillary sinus. All disease, even the lateral mucocele, was removed or drained endoscopically.
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Two-week postoperative endoscopic picture showing polypoid thickening already in the ethmoid cavities while the patient was still on tapering steroids; on the left is the lateral nasal wall. The right shows the middle turbinate next to the septum.
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A polypoid recurrence in the center of the ethmoid cavity. The septum is on the left.
