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Surgical and pathogenetic considerations of frontal sinus fungus ball

  • Rhinology
  • Published:
European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fungus ball (FB) is an non-invasive form of mycosis, that generally affects immunocompetent and non-atopic subjects. Involvement of the frontal sinus is extremely rare. We report two cases with frontal sinus fungus ball that underwent endoscopic endonasal frontal Draf type IIb or III sinusotomy with complete removal of the cheesy clay-like material. There were no intra-operative or postoperative complications, and no recurrence of disease was evident during the follow-up of 51 and 26 months, respectively. The Draf type IIb or type III frontal sinusotomy seems to be highly effective for the treatment of frontal sinus FB and can represent a valid alternative to the traditional external approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria-Varese, ASST Sette Laghi, Ospedale di Circolo e Fondazione Macchi, Via Guicciardini 9, 21100, Varese, Italy

    Elena Bernardini, Apostolos Karligkiotis & Paolo Castelnuovo

  2. Head and Neck Surgery & Forensic Dissection Research Center (HNS&FDRC), Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria-Varese, ASST Sette Laghi, Ospedale di Circolo e Fondazione Macchi, Varese, Italy

    Apostolos Karligkiotis, Paolo Castelnuovo & Iacopo Dallan

  3. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Susanna Fortunato & Iacopo Dallan

Authors
  1. Elena Bernardini
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  2. Apostolos Karligkiotis
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  3. Susanna Fortunato
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  4. Paolo Castelnuovo
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  5. Iacopo Dallan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Apostolos Karligkiotis.

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Bernardini, E., Karligkiotis, A., Fortunato, S. et al. Surgical and pathogenetic considerations of frontal sinus fungus ball. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 274, 2493–2497 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4531-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-017-4531-x

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