Etiopathogenesis of nasal polyps

An acute process is practically never the cause of polyps, for despite the reaction being hyperergic, it spreads through the entire circumference of the mucosa. In chronic noxa the infiltrates will not be diffusely distributed and may in certain places be too large to form protuberances in the mucosa by themselves. The essence of this chronic process is a further proliferation of the connective tissue, especially around the blood and lymph vessels. Chronic oedemas in the mucosa of the nose and the paranasal sinuses are transported through venous and lymphatic vessels towards the nasal meatus, more towards the middle one than the upper one. In this region not only are there lymphatic vessels, but here also lies the borderline between low and raised tissue pressure. That is the place where most nasal polyps appear. Respiratory allergy is much more frequent in recurrent nasal polyposis (78%) than in the group of patients with non-recurrent polyposis (18%). Through histochemical analysis of nasal polyps, eosinophils are found in both recurrent and non-recurrent polyps (74% and 44%, respectively), as well as in the nasal mucosa (32% vs. 15%) which is statistically significant.