Headaches and Sinus Disease

Modern diagnostic tools like fiberoptic nasal endoscopy and CT imaging of the sinuses are very sensitive in helping clinicians diagnose sinus disease; we may now reevaluate the symptoms and signs most useful in making a clinical diagnosis of rhinosinusitis. Two major systems of classification and diagnostic criteria relating headaches and sinus disease have achieved currency-that of the International Headache Society (IHS) (1988) and the more recent task force recommendations of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) (1997). This report compares and contrasts the different starting points, certain assumptions, and conflicting conclusions of these two classification systems and recommends a cooperative alliance of the IHS and AAO-HNS when these diagnostic criteria are revised.