Prevalence of allergic fungal sinusitis among patients with nasal polyposis

Objective: To determine the frequency of allergic fungal sinusitis among patients with nasal polyps, and to compare Lund Mackay scores of patients with and without allergic fungal sinusitis. Methods: The cross-sectional longitudinal study was conducted at a tertiary healthcare centre in Karachi, Pakistan, from December 2016 to November 2018, and comprised patients with sinonasal polyposis undergoing surgery. The patients were categorised as having allergic fungal sinusitis when histopathology showed allergic mucin with fungal hyphae and culture was positive for fungal growth. Lund-Mackay scoring of each patient was noted and mean scores of allergic fungal sinusitis and non-allergic fungal sinusitis patients were compared. Data was analysed using SPSS 25. Results: Of the 114 patients, 61(53.5%) were males. The overall mean age was 37.3 +/- 15.3 years. Of the total, 27(23.7%) patients had allergic fungal sinusitis. There was a significant relationship between asthma and allergic fungal sinusitis (p=0.03). The mean Lund-Mackay score was significantly higher for allergic fungal sinusitis patients (p<0.01). Recurrence was seen in 11(9.6%) cases. Conclusion: About one-fourth of patients with nasal polyps had allergic fungal sinusitis, and such patients showed significantly high mean Lund-Mackay score.