title: Histopathological characteristics of nasal polyps in smokers and non-smokers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is known that cigarette smoking causes squamous metaplasia in upper and lower airways. We hypothesized that in patients with nasal polyposis, nasal polyps of smokers might reveal some histopathological changes and there might be an increased neoplasia risk. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the effects of smoking on nasal polyp histopathology and clinical measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective chart review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Research Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty smoker and 47 non-smoker patients with nasal polyposis who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery between 2007 and 2011 were enrolled in this study to assess effect of smoking on histopathological characteristics of nasal polyps and clinical measures such as endoscopy score, computed tomography score of Lund-Mackay, Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale, presence of allergy and asthma, and blood eosinophil level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences were found between smoker and non-smoker groups with regard to histopathological findings. Also, there were no significant correlation defined by endoscopy, computed tomography, and NOSE scores of patients between 2 groups. Smoking did not have a significant effect on the presence of allergy or asthma. But blood eosinophil levels were found to be significantly high in the smoker group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first clinical study that investigates the effect of smoking on nasal polyp histopathology. In spite of the fact that smoking is associated with histopathological changes in respiratory mucosa, we did not find any significant change in histopathological characteristics of nasal polyps in smokers.
authors.affiliation: From the *Departments of Otorhinolaryngology and †Pathology, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep Gökçen
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Kule
authors.forename: Tulay Erden
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Habesoglu
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Somay
authors.forename: Hande Senem
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Deveci
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kule
authors.forename: Ali Okan
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Gursel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008679:Metaplasia; D008875:Middle Aged; D009298:Nasal Polyps / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult