Man's Sinus Infection Bulges Into Brain

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Man's Sinus Infection Bulges Into Brain

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Courtesy: Graham

By Vicki Salemi

Graham knew something wasn't quite right when a small lump above his

right eye grew to the size of a baseball in a few short weeks. " I kept thinking

it would go away but it didn't, " he said. During a routine visit to the doctor a

month later, immediate action was taken when Graham's physician -- alarmed by

the cyst's size -- numbed the growth, drained it and sent it to a lab.

A CT scan revealed that the growth was leaking mucous into Graham's brain. " The

doctors told me the infection was oozing into the lining of my brain, " said

Graham. To relieve pressure, a neurosurgeon and otolaryngolist from Baltimore

Washington Medical Center in land performed an immediate craniotomy and

frontal sinus reconstruction to prevent additional drainage and serious damage.

Without the craniotomy, the infection would have continued to worsen and could

have eventually led to death.

Each year, 37 million Americans are afflicted with sinusitis -- the cause of

Graham's infection -- according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head

and Neck Surgery. However, his case was particularly uncommon.

" People can die from this if it's not found early and treated aggressively. The

mucous can get into the brain, and a person can have a brain abscess. It's

dangerous. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often, " said Mark Zacharek,

M.D., residency program director for the Department of Otolaryngology of Head

and Neck Surgery at the Henry Ford Hospital and Health System in Detroit.

Zacharek explains that a sinusitis-related abscess can occur when mucous doesn't

drain properly from the sinuses. The mucous instead becomes trapped in front of

the sinuses and can cause a bulge to form underneath the skin. Pressure caused

by the bulge can also result in pain and impaired vision.

After surgery, Graham remained in the hospital for one week before returning

home, where he took antibiotics for the next six weeks. " I'm fine now and still

get my sinuses treated once a month at my doctor's office, " said Graham.

Symptoms may reappear; however, recurrence can depend on whether the cyst was

fully drained as well as the patient's " personal allergy history and any history

of trauma to the skull base, " Zacharek said.

While Graham currently sees his doctor on a monthly basis and uses a sinus rinse

regularly, he recommends getting a growth like his sinus-sized baseball lump

checked out sooner rather than later. " I never had a sinus headache, and I had

no idea what it was. If I waited much longer I would've been dead from that. "