Dr. Alexander Chiu, an Elsevier author

Chronic sinusitis affects at least 30 million people a year, and the actual numbers are probably much higher than quoted.

Chronic sinusitis has a bigger detriment on quality of life than lower back pain, according to some studies.

Chronic sinusitis symptoms include inability to breathe through the nose, facial pressure, loss of taste and smell, persisting for 12 weeks or longer—sometimes years or a lifetime.

Most chronic sinusitis cases can be treated with medicines, but some patients who do not respond require surgical intervention.

For beginners to endoscopic sinus surgery, the operative field appears as 'a big field of red,' requiring step-by-step correlation of anatomy via illustrations, CT, MRI, and endoscopic views.

The Atlas of Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Based Surgery pairs illustrations, CT scans, MRI scans, and endoscopic pictures to guide readers step-by-step from patient preparation to closure and postoperative care.

Adoption of endoscopic sinus and skull-based techniques in some developing countries lags 3 to 5 years behind the United States.

The atlas spans the spectrum from basic sinus procedures (first 10 chapters) to advanced skull-based tumor procedures (later chapters), allowing surgeons to progress as they gain experience.