Lund-Mackay score

The Lund-Mackay score is a widely used method for radiologic staging of chronic rhinosinusitis .

When reading a CT scan of the paranasal sinuses and ostiomeatal complex, the reader assigns each sinus a score of:

• 0 (no abnormality)
• 1 (partial opacification) or
• 2 (complete opacification)

The ostiomeatal complex is assigned a score of either 0 (not obstructed) or 2 (obstructed).

The sinuses are grouped into:

• frontal sinus
• anterior ethmoidal cells
• posterior ethmoidal cells
• maxillary sinus
• sphenoid sinus
• ostiomeatal complex

Each side is graded separately. A combined score of up to 24 is possible. Of note, an aplastic (absent) frontal sinus receives a score of 0.

The method is intentionally simplistic, for the sake of minimizing interobserver variability and expediting its application .​ Thus, it lends itself to application by non-radiologists and in clinical studies .​ Despite its simplicity, it correlates well with disease severity, extent of surgery, and complication rates, even independent of the extent of surgery .​

History and etymology

It is named after its developers, British rhinologists Valerie J Lund and Ian S Mackay.