Plenary Session of the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery

The plenary session was held in Minneapolis, Minn, from October 3 through 6, 1993. The diagnosis of the recently recognized disease process, allergic fungal sinusitis, was the subject of a study by John P. Bent III, MD, and Frederick A. Kuhn, MD, Augusta, Ga. They were particularly interested in the diagnosis of those processes that have not been fully defined. Allergic fungal sinusitis has been recognized for only about 10 years. They proposed the following criteria for diagnosis: (1) type I hypersensitivity; (2) nasal polyposis, commonly in a young patient, frequently unilateral; (3) characteristic computed tomographic scan findings of serpiginous areas of alternating high and low attenuation in affected sinuses commonly associated with bony erosion; (4) eosinophilic mucus without fungal invasion into sinus tissue; and (5) a positive fungal stain (Charcot Leyden crystals are the hallmark) of sinus contents removed intraoperatively. They commented that allergic fungal sinusitis is misdiagnosed and has