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Volume: 48 - Issue: 4

First page: 420 - Last page: 425

Lara Bilodeau - Marie-Eve Boulay - Philippe Prince - Pierre Boisvert - Louis-Philippe Boulet

BACKGROUND: Nasal polyposis (NP) is associated with a more severe and steroid-resistant asthma.
OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical and airway inflammatory features of asthmatics with or without NP.
METHODS: Two groups of asthmatic patients were studied: group 1; n=39, with NP; group 2; n=40, without NP. Asthma control was assessed according to the Asthma Control Scoring System (ACSS). Expiratory flows, induced sputum, and blood eosinophils were also measured.
RESULTS: ACSS score was lower (poorer control) in group 1 (mean±SEM = 73±3%) compared with group 2 (82±2%, p=0.01). FEV1 (mean of predicted value ± SEM) was 81±3 for group 1 and 96±3 for group 2 (p=0.001), and the FEV1/FVC ratio was lower in group 1 (70±2%) compared with group 2 (76±1%, p=0.01). Blood and induced sputum eosinophils, as well as fibronectin and eosinophil cationic protein levels, were higher in group 1.
CONCLUSION: Asthmatic subjects with NP have increased airway obstruction, increased inflammatory cells and reduced asthma control compared to those without NP. This may suggest a contribution of nasal polyps to the severity of asthma or a common susceptibility to develop upper and lower airways mucosal inflammation.

Rhinology 48-4: 420-425, 2010