Endoscopic ethmoidectomy and maxillary antrostomy in immunodeficient patients.

The efficacy of endoscopic sinus surgery was evaluated in 11 patients with diverse types of primary immunodeficiency disease and symptoms of chronic sinusitis. The postoperative symptoms and ability to eliminate antibiotics were used as outcome parameters. In two patients, the follow-up time was too short to assess therapeutic effectiveness. Five of the remaining nine patients had total or significant resolution of symptoms. Patients with transient immunodeficiency had the best resolution of symptoms. Eight of the total 11 patients were treated with intravenous immunoglobulin preoperatively, and in five patients, the treatment was continued postoperatively. The ability to terminate gamma-globulin reflects not the success of the surgery, but the transient nature of some of the immunodeficiencies.