Microarray Analysis of Sinus Samples From Patients With and Without Chronic Rhinosinusitis

Mucosal biopsies, endoscopically-guided brush samples of mucus, and a saline lavage taken from the maxillary sinuses of ten CRS patients undergoing sinus surgery are analyzed using three microarrays in order to detect bacteria, fungi and viruses. Ten control patients with normal sinuses will have the same samples taken. The hypothesis is that bacterial, fungal, and viral communities present in the maxillary sinus of patients with CRS are significantly different from those patients with healthy sinuses, and that microorganisms identified in patients with or without CRS will differ from previously published data obtained using other techniques.