Better Breathing After Sinus Surgery

As a young woman, Irene Shemaria was diagnosed with Samter’s triad, a condition that includes aspirin sensitivity, bronchial asthma, and nasal polyps. “It’s an annoying disease, more than a life-altering one,” Irene says. “However, my case was complicated by a frontal sinus cyst, called a mucocele, that had worn away a dime-sized hole in my skull, exposing my brain to the sinus!”

Irene had several surgeries to remove polyps and to drain the mucocele. But, the polyps and cyst recurred, in part due to structural flaws in her sinuses that prevented proper drainage.

After taking part in a study at Scripps Institute in La Jolla, Calif. to desensitize Samters’ patients to aspirin, Irene says she “experienced a dramatic decrease in nasal congestion and sinusitis while taking aspirin daily,” but the mucocele returned, again causing concerns about the hole near her brain.

Her otolaryngologists in Boston and Los Angeles recommended that she contact Dr. Ernest A. Weymuller, the Allison T. Wanamaker Professor and chairman of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at UW Medical Center.

When Irene saw Dr. Weymuller, they agreed that surgery was needed to reconstruct the sinuses to prevent the cyst from coming back.

Dr. Weymuller performed frontal, functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), connecting the two frontal sinuses and removing the tissue between them.

“Irene’s previous surgery had been incomplete and left diseased areas that caused recurrent obstruction,” Dr. Weymuller says. “The post-operative scans demonstrate normalization of the sinuses and we are optimistic regarding long-term improvement.”

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve been off of sinus medication,” Irene says. “I feel a million times better. Dr. Ernest A. Weymuller is exceptional in every way. The goal now is to not have surgery again.”