Cytology of Nasal Secretions in Rhinitis and Sinusitis

Background and Objectives：Inflammatory cells in nasal secretions could reflect pathologic conditions occurring in the mucosa of the nasal and paranasal sinuses. But the cytologic investigation of the nasal secretions has not been fully accepted as a clinical examination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitive cytologic study of various nasal diseases and the clinical value of cytologic examination of nasal secretions. Materials and Methods：We studied 8 patients with chronic sinusitis, 8 patients with nasal polyposis, 23 patients with allergic rhinitis, and 11 patients with hypertrophic rhinitis. The nasal secretions were treated with dithiothreitol and examined at a magnification of 400X under a light microscope. The differential cell count and frequency of appearance of individual cell type was evaluated. Results：The majority of inflammatory cells were eosinophil in allergic rhinitis and hypertrophic rhinitis. In chronic sinusitis and nasal polyposis, the majority were neutrophil. Eosinophils and lymphocytes appear very frequently in nasal polyposis. Conclusion：The result suggests that the cytologic study of nasal secretion is a simple and useful method to determine cell populations under various conditions. (Korean J Otolaryngol 1998;41(5):586-589