title: Influence of chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp on the lower airway of subjects without lower airway diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Upper and lower respiratory tract pathologies are believed to be interrelated; however, the impact of upper airway inflammation on lung function in subjects without lung disease has not been evaluated. This study investigated the association of CT finding suggesting chronic sinusitis and lung function in healthy subjects without lung disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data from 284 subjects who underwent a pulmonary function test, bronchial provocation test, rhinoscopy, and osteomeatal unit computed tomography offered as a private health check-up option.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CT findings showed that the sinusitis group had a significantly lower FEV1/FVC ratio than subjects without sinusitis finding (78.62% vs 84.19%, P=0.019). Among the sinusitis group, subjects classified by CT findings as the extensive disease group had a slightly lower FEV1/FVC than those of the limited disease group (76.6% vs 79.5%, P=0.014) and the associations were independent of the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness. The subjects with nasal polyp had also lower FEV1 and FEV1/FVC than subjects without nasal polyp (FEV1: 100.0% vs 103.6%, P=0.045, FEV1/FVC: 77.4% vs 80.0%, P=0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT findings suggesting chronic sinusitis and nasal polyp were associated with subclinical lower airway flow limitation even in the absence of underlying lung disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Suh-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soon Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo-Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea. ; Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: So-Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Ryun
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea. ; Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Sin
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea. ; Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Heon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
keywords: Bronchial hyperresponsiveness; computed tomography; nasal polyp; pulmonary function test; sinusitis