Role of Nasal Endoscopy in the Early Diagnosis of Sino nasal Malignancies

Abstract

Sinonasal malignancies remain scarce among all cancers although they manifest aggressive behavior because they frequently present at late stages since their symptoms do not provide specific clues. Early discovery of these tumors remains vital because it improves both therapeutic results and future disease projection. The visual advantage of nose endoscopy enables healthcare providers to detect early signs of suspicious lesions while conducting biopsies in diseased patients with symptoms.

Objectives

The study investigates how nasal endoscopy performs in detecting sinonasal malignancies at their earliest stages while determining its role in biopsying possible cancerous areas for precise histological analysis.

Study Design: A prospective observational Study.

Place and Duration of study. Department of ENT unit KTH Peshawar from jan 2023 to jan 2024

Methods

A 12-month  A prospective observational Study took place in the Department of ENT unit KTH Peshawar from jan 2024 to june 2024. Research included fifty adult patients showing one-sided nasal symptoms which did not respond to standard therapy who received diagnostic nasal endoscopy through 0° and 30° rigid endoscopes. Suspicious lesions were biopsied. A medical laboratory evaluated the tissue samples through histopathological analysis in order to validate the malignancy diagnosis. Data were analyzed using SPSS v24.0. The study calculated diagnostic accuracy together with sensitivity and specificity while including p-values.

Results

The patient study included 31 males while 19 patients were females from a total patient sample of 50. The mean patient age came to 48.6 years and the standard deviation equaled 10.3 years. The assessment through nasal endoscopy showed suspicious findings in 38 patients which biopsy tests confirmed 30 patients had malignancy that mainly consisted of squamous cell carcinoma. During diagnostic testing the accuracy of nasal endoscopy reached 93.7% while its specificity measured at 81.2%. Statistical examination demonstrated that endoscopic results matched histopathological findings by achieving a statistical significance (p = 0.031). The diagnostic procedure of endoscopy effectively detected areas where biopsy-based diagnosis was possible.

Conclusion

Nasal endoscopy functions as an effective procedure to identify sinonasal malignancies in their early stages without requiring extensive incisions. The diagnostic accuracy of targeted biopsies becomes higher through visualizing difficult-to-observe areas which also shortens the time required for a definitive diagnosis. When evaluating patients with unexplained unilateral nasal symptoms health professionals should incorporate nasal endoscopy as a fundamental diagnostic tool.