Research Article Environmental Risk Factors in Patients with Noninvasive Fungal Sinusitis Badr Eldin Mostafa, Mohammed M. K. El Sharnoubi, Hesham A. A. El-Sersy, and Mohammed S. M. Mahmoud Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Ain-Shams University Faculty of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt Correspondence should be addressed to Badr Eldin Mostafa; bemostafa@gmail.com Received 3 December 2015; Revised 2 March 2016; Accepted 14 April 2016 Academic Editor: Marek Sanak Copyright © 2016 Badr Eldin Mostafa et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective. he aim of our study was to try to determine the possible environmental risk factors for noninvasive fungal sinusitis in Egyptian patients. Methods. his is a prospective epidemiological case control study on the environmental risk factors of noninvasive fungal sinusitis. It included 60 patients and 100 age and sex matched controls. Results. here was a statistically signiicant relation between apartment loor, surface area, exposure to dust, exposure to cockroaches, poor air conditioning, and fungal sinusitis. Yet, no statistical signiicance was found between allergy related occupations, exposure to animals or plants, although their percentages were higher among cases, smoking, and urban or rural residence. Conclusion. We suggest that for patients with noninvasive fungal sinusitis a change in their living environment must be implied with better exposure to sunlight, larger well ventilated homes, proper cleaning of dust and cockroach extermination, and if possible the judicious use of air conditioners. 1. Introduction Fungal sinusitis was considered as a rare geographically localized disease until a worldwide increase was reported in the last two decades [1]. Although fungal superinfections are common in immunocompromised individuals, there has been a surge in the afection of immunocompetent hosts [2]. Fungal disease of the nose and paranasal sinuses can be classiied based on the clinical, radiologic, and histologic manifestations of the host-pathogen relationship [3]. he most commonly accepted classiication system divides fungal rhinosinusitis into invasive and noninvasive diseases based on histopathologic evidence of fungal elements penetrating host tissue. hese may be further subdivided into ive distinct entities along the immunologic spectrum. Saprophytic fungal infestation (SFI), sinus fungus ball (SFB), and allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) are fungal disease manifestations in the absence of fungal invasion of host tissue. Acute fulmi- nant invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (AFIFS), chronic invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (CIFS), and granulomatous invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (GIFS) exhibit histopathologic evidence of hyphal forms within sinus mucosa, submucosa, blood vessels, or bone [4]. he true reasons for this increase are not apparent and may be a combination of environmental factors as well as a higher index of suspicion amongst physicians. he predilection of allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) for certain populations revealed some racial [5], socioeconomic [6, 7], and geographical factors [8] or housing diferences [9, 10]. he aim of our study was to try to determine the possible environmental risk factors for noninvasive fungal sinusitis in Egyptian patients. 2. Patients and Methods his is a prospective epidemiological case control study on the environmental risk factors of noninvasive fungal sinusitis. It was conducted at Ain-Shams University Faculty of Medicine between January 2013 and June 2014. he study included 60 patients and 100 age and sex matched controls. It was approved by the Local Ethical Committee (Ain-Shams University Faculty of Medicine IRB ENT-7124/6/13). Hindawi Publishing Corporation Scientifica Volume 2016, Article ID 5491694, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5491694