Between the upper jaw, frontal and wedge-shaped bone is located the so-called. The latticed bone, which functions as a septum between the cavities of the nose and skull. When the mucous membrane of its cells becomes inflamed, the etmoiditis is diagnosed - its symptoms, however, are often confused with manifestations of the usual ARI, supplemented with conjunctivitis. Because of the close proximity of the trellis bone to the brain, its inflammation is dangerous, because it is important to identify the etmoiditis in time and take action.
Causes of ethmoiditis
The disease is most often bacterial in nature and is caused by staphylococci and streptococci. Often the signs of etmoiditis make themselves felt against the backdrop of scarlet fever . Much less often, inflammation of the trellis is caused by a viral infection.
Factors that provoke the disease include:
- the narrowness of the cells of the latticed labyrinth;
- adenoid glands;
- narrowness of the middle nasal passage.
Because of this, even a small puffiness leads to stagnation of mucus.
Ethmoiditis is most often affected by preschool children and people with weakened immunity, who are prone to frequent viral infections.
Types of ethmoiditis
There are acute and chronic forms of inflammation of the mucous cells of the latticed bone. In the first case, the disease usually accompanies the flu, rhinitis, etc., while supplementing with inflammation of other paranasal sinuses.
If human immunity is weak, acute etmoiditis becomes chronic, with periods of remission and exacerbation.
Because of chronic rhinitis (more often - of an allergic nature), the mucous lattice labyrinth can thicken, and then talk about polyposis etmoiditis. Polyps are both plural and single (less often). The second morphological form of the disease - catarrhal - is most common.
Symptoms of acute catarrhal etmoiditis
The disease makes itself felt by the pain in the bridge of the nose and at the root of the nose. If the inner edges of the eye sockets hurt, this indicates the involvement of the rear cells of the latticed bone in the inflammatory process.
It is difficult for patients to breathe through the nose, partial (hyposmia) or complete (anosmia) loss of smell is observed. In general, the condition worsens, the patient feels weakened, complains also of a headache and plentiful discharge of serous nature from the nose, which after a few days become purulent. Body temperature is usually kept within 37.5 - 38 ° C. Children can swell and blush the inner corner of the orbit, the lower and upper eyelids.
There are acute ethmoiditis primary, in which the disease makes itself felt more clearly, and secondary, which rapidly progresses and already on the third day gives complications. In the first case, there is anxiety, vomiting or regurgitation, dyspepsia and toxicosis. The temperature can rise to 39 - 40 ° C.
With secondary etmoiditis, the extremely serious condition of the patients is noted, caused by sepsis and a number of metastatic purulent foci. The eyelid fissure is closed, the eyelid skin has a cyanotic or reddened appearance, the eyeball may shift or stop moving.
Symptoms of chronic etmoiditis
During the remission of the patient, headaches are painful, the localization of which is difficult to determine. Also, the root of the nose and nose bridge ache, there are purulent discharge with an unpleasant odor. In the morning, mucus can accumulate in the nasopharynx and can hardly be exhaled. With chronic ethmoiditis, rhinoscopy shows the presence of polyposic growths. The patient quickly becomes tired, generally feels bad. During an exacerbation the illness is shown the same, as well as in the acute form.
The most serious complications of ethmoiditis are meningitis, encephalitis, intraocular and intracranial disorders, destruction of cells of the latticed bone.