[The silent correlate of rhinitis on lower airway]

The respiratory tract, from the nose to the lung, behaves as an anatomical and pathophysiological unit under a holistic model. Lower airway abnormalities, such as bronchial hyperresponsiveness, reduced lung function and inflammation of the bronchial mucosa without clinical expression, have been observed in patients with rhinitis without asthma. These would be the consequence of a common systemic inflammatory phenomenon with simultaneous impact on the nose and lung. For unknown reasons, these patients do not exhibit a full clinical expression, which could mean an increased risk of developing asthma. In this review we address the frequency and characteristics of existing pulmonary abnormalities in children and adolescents with chronic rhinitis that derive from our previous research and, more recently, within the project "Allergic Respiratory Disease: The United Airway Concept" supported by the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, and a comparative analysis with the evidence provided by other authors in the medical literature.