ASSESSMENT OF THE ACCURACY OF PARANASAL SINUSES LIMITED CT SCANS IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF SINUSITIS

Objective/Background: CT scan of paranasal sinuses (PNS) has replaced the standard plain radiography in patients suspected of sinusitis. Since the standard CT scan (SCT) of PNS has high patient x-ray absorption dose, limited CT scan (LCT) of PNS is performed. The purpose of this study is to assess the diagnostic accuracy rate of PNS LCT in cases suspected of sinusitis. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients with paranasal sinuses SCT requested by clinicians to diagnose sinusitis. After interpretation of paranasal sinuses SCT, limited slices consisting of 5 noncontiguous slices of 5 mm thickness in both axial and coronal plains were selected to be interpreted by another radiologist. Results: In this study paranasal sinuses LCT had a sensitivity of 95%, specificity of 92%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 96% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 90%. Conclusion: The limited CT scan in diagnosis of sinusitis has acceptable sensitivity and specificity which indicates a suitable diagnostic value.