[en] Objective: To evaluate the patient's X-rays dose during head radiography for sinusitis; To precise the influence of source-image distance on the patient's dose. Material and method: From May 1997 to January 1999, 83 patients with clinical suspicious sinusitis have been included in this study. Skull radiography in 3 positions (posterior, lateral and Blondeau view) have been achieved for each patient on 24x30 centimeters size films. These radiographies were realised on a Diagnost 7 Masio Philip X-rays machine. Three TLD dosimeters were pasted against every patient target organs (thyroid, right and left eyes). The source-image distance (SID) was 100 centimeters for the first group (35 patients) and 125 centimeters for the second group (48 patients). The selected parameters (high voltage and charge) were as follows: Skull postero-anterior view: 65 to 85 kV, 80 mAs; Skull lateral view: 60 to 75 kV, 80 mAs; Blondeau view (paranasal sinuses): 90 to 95 kV, 100 mAs. Results: All the radiographies were analysed by the same radiologist who didn't know the SID. All the films were of good quality. The patient's dose in millisievert for each target organ were: Group I (SID = 100 cm): Left eye 3,2 (+ ou - 0,66); Right eye 3, 0 (+ ou - 0,82); Thyroid 0,62 (+ ou - 0,09). Group II (SID = 125 cm): Left eye 1,9 (+ ou - 0,48); Right eye 1, 86 (+ ou - 0,50); Thyroid 0,39 (+ ou - 0,08). In conclusion, the increase of SID from 100 to 125 centimeters allows patient's dose reduction by a factor of 1.6 without the alteration of the films quality, hence the reliability of the diagnosis. (author)