Sinusitis and Acute Ischemic Stroke

Given that an acute ischemic stroke occurs when either a thrombotic or embolic clot abruptly impedes the circulation of blood through the brain, any connection to sinusitis seems improbable. Indeed, on face value, sinusitis, a condition characterized by an inflammation of the lining of the sinuses, appears to share little in common with a stroke. Many people ask, “Is sinusitis related to strokes?” However, recent evidence suggests that such intuitive reasoning may be misleading and that an intimate relationship between sinusitis and stroke may, to the surprise of most, exist.

Of late, researchers have shown that the inflammatory pressure associated with sinusitis is associated with an increased probability of stroke. More explicitly, results indicated that the probability of stroke rose by 34% for sufferers of chronic sinusitis and by 39% for people whose sinusitis outbreaks were classified as occasional and acute.

Broadly echoing those results, a separate study found that among acute ischemic stroke patients a secondary diagnosis of sinusitis was present in 12% of cases. This finding led researchers to propose that sinusitis may be an important risk factor for stroke.

While an increasing body of evidence is emerging to suggest that sinusitis and stroke are in some way correlated, the fact that a causal link remains elusive is significant. As it stands, it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s no evidence to suggest that sinusitis can cause a stroke or vice versa.

That said, hypotheses on potential causal mechanisms proliferate. In this regard, the majority of speculation revolves around the anatomical proximity of the sinuses to the brain. Some have pointed to the proximity of the sinuses to the carotid artery, others to the fact that intracranial vessels appear in both the brain and the sinuses, while still others have argued that inflamed sinuses may exert pressure on arteries located within the brain to potentially provoke a stroke.

Clearly, further studies need to be conducted in order to substantiate the exact nature of the connection between strokes and sinusitis. In the meantime, the most sensible approach is to couple the taking of timely measures to treat the effects of sinusitis with the making of any necessary lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of stroke.