An isotopic study of nasal mucociliary transport in newborns: preliminary investigation

The diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) depends on electron microscopic examination of cilia obtained from mucosal biopsies of the nasal turbinates or the trachea. This is an invasive, time-consuming, and expensive technique. The low incidence of this abnormality, the large number of infants and children with suggestive symptoms, and the lack of a reliable screening test make the decision to proceed with diagnostic biopsy a common problem in recurrent or chronic respiratory pediatric conditions. To improve this situation early in infancy, nasal mucociliary transport was evaluated in 10 normal newborns using the Tc-99m-labeled seroalbumin technique, and the results obtained were compared with those corresponding to a newborn with Kartagener's syndrome. Transport velocity in normal newborns was similar to that observed in older children and in adults, in contrast to the tracer immobility seen in the affected newborn. This technique is simple, safe, objective, and well tolerated in this age group and might be used as an early screening test to ruling out PCD.