Diagnostic Accuracy of Non Contrast CT Scan in Detection of Fungal Sinusitis by Taking Culture for Fungal Sinusitis as Gold Standard

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of non-contrast CT scan in detection of fungal sinusitis by taking culture for fungal sinusitis as gold standard. Material and Method: Study design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: The study was conducted at Advance diagnostic Centre, Bilawal Medical College LUMHS Jamshoro Duration of study: This study was conducted during one year from March 2019 to February 2020. Methods: All the patients of age from 18 to 60 years having recurrent rhino-sinusitis and either of gender were included. All the study subjects underwent non contrast CT scan of paranasal sinus by using Toshiba Asteion multislice CT scanner in the coronal and axial planes, with the patients lying prone and supine. Procedures were properly performed and followed by culture test. Culture tests were taken by expert pathologist with the contribution of ENT specialist and immediately were sent to the Hospital diagnostic laboratory. All the data was recorded via study proforma. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Results: Total 63 patients were studied, their mean age was 41.82 +/- 11.33 years and mean duration of symptoms was 4.58 +/- 3.56 years. Males were found in majority 34(54.0%). Fungal sinusitis was found in 23.8% of cases on non-contrast CT scan and 30.2% was observed by culture report. Non-contrast CT scan showed sensitivity of 95% and specificity of 68% including positive predictive value (PPV) of 87% and negative predictive value (NPP) of 86%, in the diagnosis of fungal sinusitis by taking culture test as gold standard. Conclusion: Non-contrast CT scan was observed to be a reliable, safe and non-invasive diagnostic tool for the fungal sinusitis, with 95% sensitivity and 68% specificity by tacking culture test as gold standard.