Sinusitis, Why a New Journal Dedicated Just to Sinusitis You Ask?

Sinusitis: a diagnosis that any patient you ask, will tell you that they have it. It is a very common condition, affecting 31 million patients annually in the United States [1]. Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects 12.5% of people [2]. It is a condition that can affect both adults and children. It accounts for 22 million office visits per year in the U.S. alone [3]. In 1996, $3.4 billion was spent on office visits, medications and surgical treatments. A further $5.8 billion were due to indirect costs related to 12.5 million lost work days and 58.7 million restricted work days. This amounts to $920 and 4.8 lost work days per patient-year [4,5,6].

Despite the fact that it is the most common disease seen, controversies are still found around the definition, diagnosis and treatment. Recently a huge effort has been made to come up with guidelines on how to define, diagnose and treat sinusitis. The American Academy of Otolaryngology has recently published a new guideline for the treatment of sinusitis [7]. The Europeans in 2012 published a huge document entitled the European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis [8]. There are several journals that cover sinusitis, but none “solely”. Rhinology, American Journal of Rhinology and the International Forum of Rhinology and Allergy are to name a few. However, I hope that you agree with me that a disease of such magnitude deserves a journal of its own.

Sinusitis will allow scientists from all over the world to have one forum that will allow them to share and discuss scientific ideas about sinusitis in one place. I hope your contributions will traffic our thinking about the disease faster and in a more uniform manner.

I want to urge you to join us in this endeavor and let us rise to the challenges that have plagued us about sinusitis for many years.