Delayed nasal mucociliary clearance in patients with nonallergic rhinitis and nasal eosinophilia

This study investigated nasal mucociliary clearance as related to nasal eosinophilia in nonallergic rhinitis patients using the technique of nasal saccharin challenge. Fifty-six consecutive patients with nonallergic rhinitis were evaluated with nasal cytology and saccharin challenge. A saccharin challenge time of greater than 25 minutes was considered abnormal. Twelve of 56 patients (21.4%) had nasal eosinophilia. Fifteen of 56 patients (26.8%) had prolonged nasal circulation times greater than 25 minutes, indicating delayed mucociliary clearance. Although 7 of 12 patients (58.3%) with nasal eosinophilia had delayed mucociliary clearance, only 8 of 44 patients (18.2%) without eosinophilia had circulation times longer than 25 minutes. The correlation of nasal eosinophilia with prolongation of the nasal circulation time is statistically significant (chi square 5.84, P = .0156). We postulate that damage to the nasal mucociliary system may be an etiologic factor for a subset of patients with nonallergic rhinitis and that this damage may be mediated by eosinophils.