Lund-Mackay sinus CT score

Stages the anatomic extent of chronic rhinosinusitis on CT: five sinus systems scored 0/1/2 per side, plus the ostiomeatal complex scored 0 or 2, for a maximum of 24. An objective disease-extent measure to pair with the symptom-based SNOT-22.

Evidence tier: Validated instrument.

Formula / logic

Each of the 5 sinus systems (maxillary, anterior ethmoid, posterior ethmoid, sphenoid, frontal) is scored 0 = no abnormality, 1 = partial opacification, 2 = total opacification, on EACH side. The ostiomeatal complex is scored 0 = not occluded or 2 = occluded (no value of 1), on each side. Maximum 12 per side, 24 total.

Interpretation

Lund-Mackay is an anatomic staging score, not a symptom score, so it complements rather than replaces SNOT-22. It is best used to document baseline disease extent and to compare CTs over time. There are no universally adopted mild/moderate/severe cut-offs in the original description, treat it as a continuous ordinal measure of radiologic burden.

Evidence & citations

  1. Lund VJ, Mackay IS. Staging in rhinosinusitis. Rhinology. 1993;31(4):183-184. Rhinology (original description; journal not PMID-indexed for this year)
  2. Hopkins C, Browne JP, Slack R, et al. The Lund-Mackay staging system for chronic rhinosinusitis: how is it used and what does it predict? Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;137(4):555-561. PMID 17903570

Clinician decision support. Verify against the cited source. Not a substitute for clinical judgment. 100% on-device; no patient data is stored or transmitted.