Patient history and CT findings in predicting surgical outcomes for patients with rhinogenic headache.

The concept of rhinogenic headaches remains a subject of much debate. While many authors have reported good results in treating these headaches with endoscopic sinus surgery, few have attempted to establish objective criteria for identifying the best surgical candidates. We conducted a study of 33 adults with rhinogenic headaches to determine if three elements of the history and/or five aspects of computed tomography (CT) would predict which patients might benefit from the minimally invasive sinus technique (MIST) as the primary treatment modality for their headaches. Postoperative follow-up interviews revealed that endoscopic surgery was widely successful, as 28 patients (84.8%) reported improvement. However, we were unable to find any statistically significant history or CT parameters that predicted surgical outcomes.