Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.
1998 May;41(5):586-589.
Cytology of Nasal Secretions in Rhinitis and Sinusitis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Taegu Hyosung, Taegu, Korea. Catho97@nownuri.nowcom.co.kr
- 2Department of Clinical Pathology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Taegu Hyosung, Taegu, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Inflammatory cells in nasal secretions could reflect pathologic conditions occurring in the mucosa of the nasal and paranasal sinuses. But the cytologic investigation of the nasal secretions has not been fully accepted as a clinical examination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitive cytologic study of various nasal diseases and the clinical value of cytologic examination of nasal secretions.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We studied 8 patients with chronic sinusitis, 8 patients with nasal polyposis, 23 patients with allergic rhinitis, and 11 patients with hypertrophic rhinitis. The nasal secretions were treated with dithiothreitol and examined at a magnification of 400X under a light microscope. The differential cell count and frequency of appearance of individual cell type was evaluated.
RESULTS
The majority of inflammatory cells were eosinophil in allergic rhinitis and hypertrophic rhinitis. In chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis, the majority were neutrophil. Eosinophils and lymphocytes appear very frequently in nasal polyposis.
CONCLUSION
The result suggests that the cytologic study of nasal secretion is a simple and useful method to determine cell populations under various conditions.
