Relationship between Sinonasal Anatomical Variations and Symptom Severity in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis

BACKGROUND: Anatomical variations are subtle structural abnormalities around the osteomeatal complex that might obstruct paranasal sinus drainage and ventilation. The role of these anatomical variants in chronic rhinosinusitis is still controversial and unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anatomical variations and their relationship with the severity of symptoms in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among randomly selected patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Sinonasal Outcome Test-20 (SNOT-20) was used to assess the patient’s severity of symptoms. Computed tomographic scan was used to determine the presence of anatomical variations. The relationship between anatomical variations and symptom severity was determined using the Statistical Products and Service Solution (SPSS) version 20.0. RESULTS: There were 70(58.3%) males and 50(41.7%) females within the age range of 17–60 years. SNOT-20 scoring showed 6(5.0%) of the patients with mild symptoms, 69(57.5%) with moderate, 37(30.8%) with severe, and 8(6.7%) with profound symptoms. The prevalence of sinonasal anatomical variants was 26.7%, which comprised of septal deviation (10.8%), agger nasi (6.7%), concha bullosa (4.2%), Haller cells (3.3%), and Onodi cells (1.7%). There was a statistically significant relationship between the anatomical variations and symptom severity (P = 0.000). CONCLUSION: This study found a significant relationship between anatomical variations and severity of chronic rhinosinusitis. The prevalence of anatomical variants was found to be 26.7%.