Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Am J Rhinol Allergy. 2012 Jul-Aug;26(4):278-82. doi: 10.2500/ajra.2012.26.3783.
Research has found evidence that chronic inflammation may promote atherosclerotic disease. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that rhinosinusitis is a risk factor for stroke.
This prospective cohort study comprised patients recorded on the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005 (LHID2005) who had received a diagnosis of rhinosinusitis (n = 53,653) between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2005. A control group (1:4) drawn from the same database was matched for age and gender (n = 214,624). Each patient was followed up using data entered until the end of 2006. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to evaluate the hazard ratios (HRs) after adjusting for potential confounding factors.
We found that patients with rhinosinusitis were more likely to suffer strokes than the control population, after adjusting for potential confounders (adjusted HR, 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.281.50). The HR of stroke was 1.39 (95% CI, 1.281.51) for acute sinusitis patients, and 1.34 (95% CI, 1.04~1.74) for chronic sinusitis patients.
Both acute and chronic sinusitis are risk factors or markers for stroke that is independent of traditional stroke risk factors. Further research in this important area of epidemiology is warranted.
研究发现，慢性炎症可能促进动脉粥样硬化疾病。本研究旨在检验这样一个假设，即鼻窦炎是中风的一个危险因素。
本前瞻性队列研究纳入了 2004 年 1 月 1 日至 2005 年 12 月 31 日期间在台湾纵向健康保险数据库 2005 年（LHID2005）中记录的患有鼻窦炎（n=53653）的患者。从同一数据库中按年龄和性别匹配（n=214624）获得对照组。每位患者的随访数据均采用录入的方式进行，直至 2006 年底。使用 Cox 比例风险回归分析，在调整潜在混杂因素后评估危险比（HR）。
我们发现，在调整了潜在混杂因素后，患有鼻窦炎的患者发生中风的风险高于对照组（调整后的 HR，1.39；95%置信区间[CI]，1.281.50）。急性鼻窦炎患者的中风 HR 为 1.39（95% CI，1.281.51），慢性鼻窦炎患者的 HR 为 1.34（95% CI，1.04~1.74）。
急性和慢性鼻窦炎都是中风的危险因素或标志物，与传统的中风危险因素无关。有必要在这一重要的流行病学领域进行进一步研究。
