[Determination of the eosinophil count in nasal mucus. Comparison of 2 techniques]

We compared swab and scraping (Rhino-probe) technics in the nasal cytology obtention for eosinophils count in 36 patients with a range of 2-46 years old (mean age 18.6 years) with diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis. The eosinophil count with swab technic was between 0-79 cells with average of 6.5 cells and in the scraping (Rhino-probe) was in a rate of 0-100 cells with a average of 13.4 cells. Of the 36 patients with Rhinitis seen at our clinic, 13 (36%) of positive with swab and 19 (53%) with scraping technics (Rhino-probe) with percent differential of 17%. The comparison between the eosinophils count with both technics was p less than 0.05 for scraping (Rhino-probe) technic.