The two holes syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Defects in the fontanel region of the lateral nasal wall have been described in the literature as "accessory" or "secondary" ostia. The authors consider them a sign of chronic maxillary sinusitis. Along with mucus recirculation between the natural ostium and the fontanel defect, we call it the Two Holes Syndrome. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of fontanel defects in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and in healthy subjects.

METHODS

Eighty-eight hundred seventy-nine outpatients with CRS were examined by means of nasal fiberendoscopy. The control group consisted of 1442 healthy volunteers with no previous history of CRS.

RESULTS

Defect in the posterior fontanel was found in 1713/8879 CRS patients (19.3%). It was bilateral in 1165 cases (68.03%). Defect in the anterior fontanel was found in 54 patients (0.61%). The circulating mucus ring was identified in 162 patients with fontanel defects (9.17%). The defect in the posterior fontanel was found in 7/1442 healthy volunteers (0.48%). It was never bilateral, the circulating mucus was not observed and defect in the anterior fontanel was not found.

CONCLUSION

Posterior fontanel defects were found more frequently in CRS patients than in healthy subjects. These defects have been clinically related to chronic infection of the maxillary sinus and should not be called "accessory" or "secondary" ostia. CRS with defects of the fontanel region and mucus recirculation can promote a number of health disturbances (chronic postnasal drip, headache, and cough). We named this entity the Two Holes Syndrome.