Acute Maxillary Sinusitis

To the Editor: In the March 26 issue, Wald et al. discuss the problem of acute maxillary sinusitis in children and correlate bacterial growth from sinus aspirates with both abnormal sinus radiographs and clinical symptoms of sinusitis.* They suggest that when there are both abnormal x-ray findings and clinical signs of sinusitis, the patient should receive antibiotic therapy. The paper offers some criteria for the diagnosis of sinusitis, but it leaves unanswered the key question of what the minimal criteria needed for diagnosis are. The cost for a routine set of sinus x-ray films in my community ranges from $56.50 . . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.