Background: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) causes impaired mucociliary clearance and results in chronic pulmonary and sinonasal symptoms.
Objectives: To study the CT imaging features of paranasal sinuses in children with PCD.
Materials and methods: 17 PCD patients ranged from 4 to 13 years, a mean age of 7.9 ± 3.3 years, were included in the final analysis. Patients with non-PCD chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) who accepted maxillary balloon catheter dilation were included in the control group. Paranasal sinuses CT scans were scored according to the Lund-Mackay staging system. The correlation between age and Lund-Mackay score was analyzed.
Results: 100% (17/17) had rhinosinusitis, 52.9% (9/17) had lung consolidation, 64.7% (11/17) had atelectasis, 35.3% (6/17) had bronchiectasis, and 47.1% (8/17) had a history of neonatal respiratory distress. The mean Lund-Mackay score of PCD patients was 14.2 ± 3.1, that of non-PCD CRS patients was 14.6 ± 5.5, the difference was not significant (p = .79). There was a significant inverse correlation between age and Lund-Mackay score in PCD patients (r = -0.530, p = .029) but not in non-PCD CRS patients (r = -0.168, p = .519).
Conclusion: Radiographic severity of rhinosinusitis in PCD patients was similar to the control population but decreased with age.
Significance: First time to propose radiographic severity of rhinosinusitis in pediatric patients with PCD might decrease with age.
Keywords: Lund–Mackay; Primary ciliary dyskinesia; computed tomography; respiratory distress; sinusitis.