Purpose: To determine whether patients who have acute graft-versus-host disease (AGVHD), are more likely to have radiographically abnormal paranasal sinuses after bone marrow transplantation than patients without AGVHD.
Methods: This retrospective case-control study population comprised 45 adult allogeneic or matched unrelated donor patients who underwent bone marrow transplantation. Twenty-eight patients had AGVHD, and 17 patients did not. All patients had paranasal sinus imaging with either CT or plain films for evaluation of possible sinusitis after bone marrow transplantation. The severity of radiographic changes was measured with an objective scoring system based on mucosal findings.
Results: An odds ratio revealed no association between AGVHD and the presence of radiographically abnormal sinuses.
Conclusion: The diagnosis of AGVHD should not complicate the radiographic evaluation of acute sinusitis after bone marrow transplantation.