[Etiopathogenesis and clinical aspects of allergic and vasomotor rhinopathy]

Nasal hyperreactivity is the common physiopathological mechanism of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis. Specific hyperreactivity is characteristic of the IgE-mediated nasal allergy; aspecific hyperreactivity is associated with an amplification of the normal nasal reflexes, due to complex and, as yet, only partially understood factors. Rhinitis or rhinopathy can be classified as allergic, seasonal or perennial, and non-allergic. Perennial non-allergic rhinitis or vasomotor rhinitis is a heterogeneous disorder consisting of at least two subgroups, eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic. The main clinical aspects, the differential diagnosis and some modes of treatment of the different forms of rhinitis are discussed.