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 261,466 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The reliability of transillumination versus roentgenogram to diagnose maxillary and frontal paranasal sinus disease was assessed in 52 subjects with rhinitis and/or asthma. Two different otolaryngologists transilluminated the sinuses while the roentgenograms were evaluated by a radiologist and a third otolaryngologist. Patients filled in questionnaires of symptoms. There was excellent agreement (p < 0.001) between otolaryngologists regarding transillumination of the frontal sinuses but not the maxillary sinuses. Similarly, transillumination of the frontal sinuses correlated well with the roentgenograms. This was not true for transillumination of the maxillary sinuses. Although pain in the upper teeth related well to the presence of frontal disease, sinus headache was a frequent complaint but not useful as a predictor of sinus disease. Even though transillumination of the frontal paranasal sinus has some predictive value, the technique of transillumination has limited usefulness as a diagnostic tool and is not an adequate substitute for roentgenogram.
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PMID:Comparison between transillumination and the roentgenogram in diagnosing paranasal sinus disease. 745 69

Long neglected as a clinical entity, sinus headache has become a common complaint of patients with facial pain. Although pain is associated with some sinus disease, many experts feel the magnitude and instances of sinus headache have been exaggerated to the public. Birt stated that "otolaryngologists see scores of patients with vague discomfort in the forehead, between the eyes, and across the nose and cheeks." Patients invariably ascribe their symptoms to sinus disease, and are later surprised to discover that they are not infected. In fact, chronic sinusitis is not particularly common, and many headache patients with autonomic features will probably have muscle tension headaches or migraines. Most authors feel that acute or chronic headache processes are not a result of overt paranasal sinus disease. However, the clinician is obliged to consider the possibility in differential diagnosis. This paper will present the anatomic, neurologic, physiologic, and pathologic aspects of paranasal sinus disease and its conceivable relationship to headache and facial pain.
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PMID:Headache and facial pain-the role of the paranasal sinuses: a literature review. 835 6

It has to be excluded organic lesions to diagnose the primary headache, however they are tended to be misdiagnosed in a routine practice. Acute sinusitis is the most common disease to be misdiagnosed as the primary headaches and we have reported that the characteristics of sinus headache have closely resembled migraine, cluster headache or tension type headache. The effectiveness of triptans does not become an evidence for a diagnosis of migraine or cluster headache, because it was also effective for the pain of the acute sinusitis. The etiology of sinus headache that resembles the primary headaches is similar to the trigemino-vascular theory. In this paper, we clarify the characteristics of sinus headache resembling the primary headaches.
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PMID:[The characteristics of sinus headache resembling the primary headaches]. 1621 89

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of misdiagnosis of sinus headache in migraine and other primary headache types in the children and adolescents with chronic or recurrent headaches. Children with chronic or recurrent headaches (n = 310) were prospectively evaluated. Data collection for each patient included history of previously diagnosed sinusitis due to headache, and additional sinusitis complaints (such as fever, cough, nasal discharge, postnasal discharge) at the time of sinusitis diagnosis, and improvement of the headache following treatment of sinusitis. If sinus radiographs existed they were recorded. The study included 214 patients with complete data. One hundred and sixteen (54.2%) patients have been diagnosed as sinusitis previously and 25% of them had at least one additional complaint, while 75% of them had none. Sinusitis treatment had no effect on the headaches in 60.3% of the patients. Sinus graphy had been performed in 52.8%, and 50.4% of them were normal. The prevalence of sinus headache concomitant with primary headache, and only sinus headache was detected in 7 and 1%, respectively, in our study. Approximately 40% of the patients with migraine and 60% of the patients with tension-type headache had been misdiagnosed as "sinus headache". Children with chronic or recurrent headaches are frequently misdiagnosed as sinus headache and receive unnecessary sinusitis treatment and sinus graphy.
J Headache Pain 2008 Feb
PMID:Sinusitis in children and adolescents with chronic or recurrent headache: a case-control study. 1821 42

'Sinus headache' is a term used by many patients and primary-care physicians and, contrary to popular belief, sinus headaches are uncommon. Headaches that are due to sinusitis are confined to a minority of patients who have acute frontal sinusitis or sphenoiditis. The International Headache Society classification is robust in qualifying the term sinus headache and says that "chronic sinusitis is not validated as a cause of headache and facial pain unless relapsing into an acute stage". The vast majority of people who present with a symmetrical frontal or temporal headache, sometimes with an occipital component, have tension-type headache. Unilateral, episodic headaches are often vascular in origin. The idea that sinusitis can trigger migraine is misplaced, as the whole symptom complex is vascular and coexisting nasal congestion is due to vasodilation of the nasal mucosa that is sometimes part of the vascular event. The use of nasal endoscopy and imaging of the paranasal sinuses have advanced our appreciation that these patients are suffering from a vascular event. When these patients are asked to attend a clinic when they are symptomatic, the vast majority are found not to have a sinus infection. Sinusitis rarely causes headache, let alone facial pain, except when there is an acute bacterial infection when the sinus in question cannot drain, and it is usually unilateral due to increased pressure and inflammation caused by pus trapped within the sinus cavity. These patients usually have a history of a viral upper respiratory infection immediately before this and they have pyrexia with unilateral nasal obstruction. The vast majority of patients with acute sinusitis respond to antibiotics. Recurrent bacterial sinusitis is rare and anyone with more than two episodes of genuine bacterial sinusitis in 1 year should be investigated for evidence of poor immunity. Patients with chronic bacterial sinusitis rarely have any pain unless the sinus ostia are blocked and their symptoms are then the same as in acute sinusitis. Within the medical literature, there are texts that report that sphenoid sinusitis can cause headaches and, as with other acute sinus infections, intracranial or ophthalmolgical complications can occur. First, acute sphenoid sinusitis is rare and second, most of these patients respond to antibiotics. Batotrauma can cause short-lived pain in the sinus involved but there is always a clear history associated with diving or flying and, as the pressure within the sinus equalizes, the pain resolves within a few hours. Headaches are rarely due to sinusitis.
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PMID:Sinus headaches: avoiding over- and mis-diagnosis. 1934 97

Sinus headache is not a diagnostic term supported by the academia, yet it appears to be understood by the general public and larger medical community. It can be considered both a primary and secondary headache disorder. As a primary headache disorder, most of the patients considered to have sinus headache indeed have migraine (migraine with sinus symptoms). Yet it is also possible that some attacks of sinus headache may represent a unique clinical phenotype of migraine or be a unique clinical entity. Potentially, primary sinus headache can chronify and be refractory through immune-mediated mechanisms or as a catalyst for migraine chronification through ineffective treatment or medication overuse and misuse. As a secondary headache disorder, sinus headache can be associated with a wide range of underlying etiologies such as infection, anatomical abnormalities, trauma, and immunological disease or sleep disorders. It is possible that these underlying pathophysiological processes generate long-standing activation of nociceptive mechanisms involved in headache and can lead to chronification and refractoriness of the headache symptomatology. This article explores some of the potential mechanisms and the available scientific studies that may explain how sinus headache can become chronic and present to the clinician as a refractory headache disorder.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2009 Aug
PMID:Sinus problems as a cause of headache refractoriness and migraine chronification. 1958 97

The concept of a sinus headache is problematic from neurology, allergology, and rhinology perspectives. It may be considered the final neurological diagnosis of exclusion when criteria for other craniofacial pain syndromes are not met. The International Headache Society definition implicates the presence of acute sinusitis, but this requirement is often not met in practice or with a patient's perception of the term. Otorhinolaryngologists have a similar exasperation with this cephalgia but tend to attribute idiopathic, nonallergic rhinopathy as the cause. Allergists often see patients who claim to have a sinus headache but instead have perennial allergic rhinitis or nonallergic rhinitis. A fresh perspective is required to determine the characteristics, differential diagnosis, and veracity of the sinus headache. We recommend using the term with caution only if the clinical picture meets the criteria for acute sinusitis-induced headache.
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PMID:The sinus headache explained. 2043 69

"Sinus headache" is a common chief complaint that often leads patients to an otolaryngologist's office. Because facial pain may or may not be sinogenic in origin, the otolaryngologist should be equipped to evaluate and treat or to appropriately refer these patients. Analysis of current data indicates that the majority of patients who present with sinus headaches actually have migraines. Furthermore, the downstream effect of the cytokine cascade initiated in migraine physiology can cause rhinologic symptoms, including rhinorrhea, congestion, and lacrimation, which may also confound diagnosis. Other causes of sinus headache include the following: cluster headaches, Sluder neuralgia, trigeminal neuralgia, myofascial trigger point pain (tension headaches, temporomandibular joint dysfunction), and contact point headaches. The diagnostic dilemma for an otolaryngologist occurs when a patient has facial pain and symptoms that may indicate chronic rhinosinusitis but with nondiagnostic endoscopy. Traditionally, these patients have been primarily managed with empiric antibiotics. An alternative strategy is to first screen these patients with an upfront computed tomography. This algorithm may ultimately decrease cost; avert unnecessary antibiotics prescriptions; and prompt more timely referrals to other, more appropriate, disciplines, such as neurology, dentistry, and/or pain management specialists.
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PMID:Headaches and facial pain in rhinology. 2933 83

Headache secondary to sinonasal disease is still overestimated in the diagnostic pathway of cephalalgia. Contrary to belief, so-called sinus headaches are fairly uncommon and seen mostly in acute sinusitis or acute exacerbations. Even though literature has written extensively about the prevalence of migraines in self-diagnosed or primary care-diagnosed sinus headache, there is only a small body of literature regarding the real prevalence of pain and headache occurring during acute and chronic sinusitis.We reviewed the current literature and clarified the differences in presentation of pain for acute and chronic sinusitis, highlighting the higher prevalence of pain in chronic rhinosinusitis without polyps versus with polyps. Furthermore, we stressed the need for a rethinking in the clinical diagnosis of sinusitis based on pain as a major symptom.
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PMID:Prevalence of pain due to rhinosinusitis: a review. 2990 33