Acute and chronic frontal sinusitis.

This review summarizes the recent literature published on the microbiology, diagnosis, and medical and surgical management of acute and chronic frontal sinus disease. Two retrospective studies investigated the microbiology of frontal sinusitis in patients that underwent sinus surgery. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Staphylococcus aureus predominated in acute infection in patients with acute frontal sinusitis, and S. aureus and anaerobic bacteria were commonly isolated in chronic sinusitis. Surgery is indicated to treat patients with acute and chronic sinusitis and their complications. Several surgical procedures were recently evaluated, and these are briefly reviewed.