First, for the sake of explaining in simple terms, Fungal Sinusitis is a type of fungal infection. If you know what fungi are, they are organisms, similar to plants but they lack chlorophyll to survive. So, to compensate that deficiency they feed on dead organisms. But in reality the problem starts when sometimes fungi start eating live organisms, in lieu of just attacking the dead ones. This sets off the fungal infection. Then, removal or eradication of fungus becomes the main focus of the treatment of fungal sinusitis.
Our body can become an easy target for fungi invasion, when the immune system gets vulnerable or suppressed for some reason. Although, the fungi are plant-like organism, for survival they do not require rays of light, and they can easily build their nest within the damp and dark sinus cavities in our body, thereby triggering the fungal sinusitis.
We know four kinds of fungal sinusitis.
(i) Allergic Fungal Sinusitis (AFS)
(ii) Chronic Indolent Sinusitis
(iii) Fulminant Sinusitis
(iv) Mycetoma Fungal Sinusitis
Allergic Fungal Sinusitis (AFS) generally occurs due to some allergic reaction to environmental fungi,that float in the air. It was observed that the patients with AFS mostly have history of allergic rhinitis, that a makes the diagnosis of fungal sinus infection. For AFS, sometime one needs to consider surgery. A secretion of carbohydrate-intensive glycoproteins, known as mucin and thick concentration of fungi block the sinus cavities. As a treatment, these are cleaned surgically along with the allergens that harbor them. Recurrence of AFS is not uncommon. The physicians advise immunotherapy and anti-inflammatory remedies to arrest the recurrence of this sinusitis.
Chronic Indolent Sinusitis is a very invasive form of fungal sinusitis and the patients generally do not display any trace of immune deficiency. This is a rare form of fungal sinusitis in USA, but seen in some Asian and African countries. The patients suffer from progressive facial inflammation with excruciating headache, which can lead to severe deficiencies like optical impairment. The patients with low immune system are at an aggravated risk of this invasive sinusitis. The remedy includes intravenous anti-fungal therapeutic treatment and often surgical purging of fungi.
Fulminant Sinusitis is normally prevalent amongst patients with immunological deficiency. In medical jargon they call them immuno-compromised patient, someone who suffers from dysfunctional immunological mechanism, as rendered so by the immuno suppresive agents or by immuno deficiency syndrome. This kind of fungal sinus infection might invade progressively infiltrate into the bone structure of brain and eye-socket areas.
Mycetoma Fungal Sinusitis, the last one in the list, can be called a “fungal ball” sinusitis. The affected area is maxillary sinus and this kind of sinusitis leads to clumps of spores in the cavity ( in the fungal ball analogy). It is associated with sinus discomfort, but it does not cause the extent of inflammation, we observed in other fungal infections. The immune system of the patient is not generally impacted, but the fungus might cause some injury to the sinus cavities. As a treatment, the fungus is scraped out of the infected sinuses.
produces clumps of spores, a "fungal ball," within a sinus cavity, most frequently the maxillary sinuses. The patient usually maintains an effective immune system, but may have experienced trauma or injury to the affected sinus(es). Generally, the fungus does not cause a significant inflammatory response, but sinus discomfort occurs. The noninvasive nature of this disorder requires a treatment consisting of simple scraping of the infected sinus. An anti-fungal therapy is generally not prescribed.
