Impaired mucociliary clearance in allergic rhinitis patients is related to a predisposition to rhinosinusitis.
Although mucociliary clearance has been shown to be impaired in patients with allergic rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis, its exact role in relation to a predisposition to rhinosinusitis is unknown. To investigate this possible association, we conducted a prospective study of 125 patients with allergic rhinitis. Of this group, 23 patients were classified as being sinusitis-prone based on their history of antibiotic consumption for the treatment of rhinosinusitis; the remaining 102 patients were deemed to be not sinusitis-prone. The saccharine test was used to evaluate mucociliary clearance in all patients. Several variables-age, sex, smoking habits, rhinitis severity, and medication history-were examined. We found that the sinusitis-prone patients had a significantly greater mucociliary clearance time than did those who were not prone (median: 15 and 12 min, respectively; p = 0.02). No other statistically significant differences were seen between the 2 groups with respect to any other variables that might have affected mucociliary clearance. We conclude that impaired mucociliary clearance in allergic rhinitis patients is associated with a predisposition to rhinosinusitis.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Patras School of Medicine Hospital, Patras, Greece.
Ioannis
I
Vlastos
Ioannis
I
Athanasopoulos
Nicholas S
NS
Mastronikolis
Theodora
T
Panogeorgou
Vassilios
V
Margaritis
Stefanos
S
Naxakis
Panos D
PD
Goumas
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004487:Edema / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009079:Mucociliary Clearance / Q000502:physiology*; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000503:physiopathology; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000503:physiopathology; D010254:Paranasal Sinus Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*