[Clinical features and characteristics of paranasal sinus effusion in allergic sinusitis]

Plain paranasal sinus radiographs including occipitofrontal and occipitomental views often show abnormal shadows in patients with allergic rhinitis. For that reason, the relationship between chronic sinusitis and allergy has been discussed for many years. Type I allergy is thought to be involved in the sinusitis which is called allergic sinusitis. However, there is not enough information pertaining to this disorder. In order to determine the clinical feature and the characteristics of paranasal sinus effusion in allergic sinusitis, we investigated the differences between 20 patients with allergic sinusitis and 20 with non-allergic chronic sinusitis used as controls. Clinical symptoms (nasal discharge, nasal obstruction, headache, postnasal discharge) and anterior rhinoscopic findings (nasal discharge, nasal edema), clinical examinations (type of x ray maxillary sinus shadow, bacteriology of nasal discharge), and pathological features of the paranasal sinus effusion were examined and compared in the two kind of sinusitis. Pathological findings of the effusion sampled from 14 patients with allergic sinusitis and 15 with non-allergic sinusitis included the number of eosinophils, activated eosinophils and neutrophils, concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-4, IL-5, IL-8, and concentrations of leukotriene C4/D4/E4 and prostaglandin E2. The incidence and degree of postnasal discharge as a symptom and a nasal finding were lower in allergic sinusitis patients than in the controls. Microorganisms were detected less frequently in the allergic group. The number of eosinophils, activated eosinophils and neutrophils was higher in the paranasal sinus effusion of the patients with allergic sinusitis. The concentrations (ng/mg of protein) of IL-1 beta and IL-8 showed no difference between the two groups, but IL-4, and IL-5 were more prevalent per mg of protein in the effusion of allergic sinusitis patients. These findings suggest that the clinical features of allergic sinusitis include a low incidence and degree of postnasal discharge and a low rate of detection of bacteria, and that the sinus effusion is characterized by the presence of more eosinophils, activated eosinophils, and IL-5 than in those of chronic sinusitis.