SELECTED ARTICLES FROM THE RECENT LITERATURE 2008

8/31/2008

Nasal Airway Remodeling May Occur in the Nose as well as the Lung

Summary
The purpose of this study was to detect evidence for remodeling in rhinitis. In order to do this, the authors evaluated nasal function (nasal airflow) in a cohort of patients with perennial allergic rhinitis. They evaluated 100 patients, 50 with "short-term" and 50 with "long-term" perennial allergic rhinitis. They were studied respectively, and consecutively evaluated by symptoms, physical examination, allergy tests, and rhinomanometry. They found that nasal airflow values were significantly lower (median flow: 348 mL/sec) in patients with long-term rhinitis (median duration: 9 years) as compared to patients with short-term rhinitis (median duration: 1 year). They concluded that this finding was consistent with evidence that patients with long-term perennial allergic rhinitis may show a progressive worsening of nasal airflow depending on the duration of the disease. They cited in the discussion that a possible explanation for this phenomenon might be the persistence of allergic inflammation. This in turn could cause chronic hypertrophy of the turbinates, resulting from the process of remodeling similar to that seen in the lungs.

Reference
Ciprandi G, et al. Relationship between rhinitis duration and worsening of nasal function. Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (2008), 138:725-729.

 

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