title: Nasal wall compliance in vasomotor rhinitis.
abstract: Nasal compliance is a measure related to the blood volume in the nasal mucosa. The objective of this study was to better understand the vascular response in vasomotor rhinitis by measuring nasal cross-sectional area and nasal compliance before and after mucosal decongestion in 10 patients with vasomotor rhinitis compared with 10 healthy subjects. Nasal compliance was inferred by measuring nasal area by acoustic rhinometry at pressures ranging from atmospheric pressure to a negative pressure of -10 cmH2O. Mucosal decongestion was obtained with one puff per nostril of 0.05% oxymetazoline. At atmospheric pressure, nasal cross-sectional areas were similar in the vasomotor rhinitis group and the healthy subject group. Mucosal decongestion did not induce any decrease of nasal compliance in patients with vasomotor rhinitis in contrast with healthy subjects. Our results support the hypothesis, already proposed, of an autonomic dysfunction based on a paradoxical response of the nasal mucosa in vasomotor rhinitis. Moreover, the clearly different behavior between healthy subjects and vasomotor rhinitis subjects suggests that nasal compliance measurement may therefore represent a potential line of research to develop a diagnostic tool for vasomotor rhinitis, which remains a diagnosis of exclusion.
authors.affiliation: Physiopathologie et Thérapeutique Respiratoires INSERM UMR 651, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Papon
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brugel-Ribere
authors.forename: Redouane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fodil
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Croce
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larger
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rugina
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coste
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Isabey
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zerah-Lancner
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Louis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000403:Airway Resistance / Q000187:drug effects; D004548:Elasticity / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014663:Nasal Decongestants; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D009666:Nose / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010109:Oxymetazoline; D012223:Rhinitis, Vasomotor / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D023842:Rhinometry, Acoustic / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D014663:Nasal Decongestants; D010109:Oxymetazoline