Sense of smell in chronic rhinosinusitis: A multicentric study on 811 patients.

Introduction: The impairment of the sense of smell is often related to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with or without nasal polyps (CRSwNP, CRSsNP). CRSwNP is a frequent condition that drastically worsens the quality of life of those affected; it has a higher prevalence than CRSsNP. CRSwNP patients experience severe loss of smell with earlier presentation and are more likely to experience recurrence of their symptoms, often requiring revision surgery. Methods: The present study performed a multicentric data collection, enrolling 811 patients with CRS divided according to the inflammatory endotype (Type 2 and non-Type 2). All patients were referred for nasal endoscopy for the assessment of nasal polyposis using nasal polyp score (NPS); Sniffin' Sticks olfactory test were performed to measure olfactory function, and SNOT-22 (22-item sinonasal outcome test) questionnaire was used to assess patients' quality of life; allergic status was evaluated with skin prick test and nasal cytology completed the evaluation when available. Results: Data showed that Type 2 inflammation is more common than non-type 2 (656 patients versus 155) and patients suffer from worse quality of life and nasal polyp score. Moreover, 86.1% of patients with Type 2 CRSwNP were affected by a dysfunction of the sense of smell while it involved a lesser percentage of non-Type 2 patients. Indeed, these data give us new information about type-2 inflammation patients' characteristics. Discussion: The present study confirms that olfactory function weights on patients' QoL and it represents an important therapeutic goal that can also improve patients' compliance when achieved. In a future - and present - perspective of rhinological precision medicine, an impairment of the sense of smell could help the clinician to characterize patients better and to choose the best treatment available.

Predictors of Disease Control After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Plus Long-Term Local Corticosteroids in CRSwNP.

BACKGROUND: in the era of new biological agents it is important to identify patients who may benefit from conventional therapies such as endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) plus long-term local corticosteroids from those with patterns of inflammation that are more difficult to control post-operatively and who may benefit from other therapies. OBJECTIVE: determine if preoperative assessment of type and grade of inflammation and clinical factors can predict disease control with ESS plus long-term local corticosteroids in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). METHODS: Eighty patients treated with ESS plus mometasone-furoate 200 µg BID for CRSwNP and followed for at least 1 year were enrolled (November 2017-December 2018) in this prospective observational study. Type and grade of inflammation were evaluated preoperatively by nasal cytology. Based on cellular pattern, patients were grouped as neutrophilic (n = 20), eosinophilic (n = 38), or mixed eosinophil-neutrophilic (n = 22). SNOT-22 and Lund-Kennedy Endoscopic Score were evaluated at baseline and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after surgery and used to define disease control. RESULTS: The cumulative probability of remaining free of significant modification of endoscopic score (Lund-Kennedy Endoscopic Score >2) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months was 0.84, 0.76, 0.71, and 0.68, respectively. At 12-month postoperative evaluation good disease control was observed in 54 of 80 patients (67.5%). Compared to those with good post-operative disease control, those with poor control had a significantly higher pre-operative mean count of eosinophils and neutrophils (p < 0.05). The preoperative inflammatory pattern was associated with relative risk of poor control: neutrophilia (RR: 3.10; CI:1.24-7.71), eosinophilia (RR:8.42; CI:2.72-15.12), and mixed eosinophilic and neutrophilic (RR:25.11; CI:19.41-30.01). We also confirmed that asthma, allergy, blood eosinophilia, and ASA triad could predict poor control. CONCLUSIONS: The type and load of inflammation evaluated preoperatively and selected clinical factors can predict poor control of CRSwNP treated with ESS and local corticosteroids.

Antileukotrienes improve naso-ocular symptoms and biomarkers in patients with NARES and asthma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to analyze the montelukast effectiveness in improving oculonasal symptoms, patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and eosinophilic biomarkers in patients with nonallergic rhinitis eosinophilic syndrome (NARES). METHODS: We enrolled prospectively 80 symptomatic patients treated with 10 mg once a day of montelukast in monotherapy for 2 months. All patients were investigated before and after treatment. Nasal symptoms (nasal obstruction, rhinorrhoea, sneezing, nasal itching), ocular symptoms (redness/puffiness, watery eyes), and other PROs (olfactory dysfunction, difficulty going to sleep, nighttime awakenings, and nasal congestion on awakening) were scored by visual analogic scale. The following clinical scores were assessed: Total Nasal Symptom Score (T4NSS), Total Ocular Symptom Score (T2OSS), Total Symptom Score of Patient-Reported Outcomes (TSS-PROs), and a Composite Symptoms Score (CSS). Patients were classified as responders when a reduction of at least 50% of the CSS was observed. Before and after treatment, the eosinophilic biomarkers in nasal lavage were analyzed: nasal eosinophilia (number of eosinophils per high power field), eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-2. RESULTS: After treatment, significant reductions were observed for all the symptom scores. Forty-two of 78 patients were considered responders. A significant reduction of eosinophils in nasal mucosa and of levels of eotaxin-1 and eotaxin-2 in nasal lavage were observed after treatment in responder patients. Patients with asthma had an increased probability to be responders. CONCLUSION: NARES patients may benefit from treatment with montelukast. In particular, the presence of concomitant asthma may be predictive of a greater efficacy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 2 Laryngoscope, 129:551-557, 2019.

Prognostic value of nasal cytology and clinical factors in nasal polyps development in patients at risk: can the beginning predict the end?

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the prognostic value of nasal cytology and clinical factors in predicting nasal polyp (NP) development in patients with history of nonallergic chronic sinonasal inflammation. METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study of 295 patients followed at our institution for a mean of 85.70 ± 19.41 months. According to the inclusion criteria we enrolled 84 cases with persistent eosinophilic nonallergic sinonasal inflammation (group A) and 106 cases with neutrophilic inflammation (group B), both without evidence of NPs at the baseline. We considered as controls 105 patients affected by nonallergic noninfectious vasomotor rhinitis without evidence of inflammation at nasal cytology (group C). Patients were checked every 6 months for NPs. Temporal analyses was performed by Kaplan-Mayer curves and odds ratios were evaluated by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The percentage of patients that developed NPs was higher in group A (29/84 [34.52%]) than in group B (17/106 [16.03%]) and group C (5/104 [4.7%]) (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analyses showed that eosinophilic patients had a higher risk of NP development over the years than neutrophilic patients compared to controls (odds ratio [OR], 10.55 vs 3.2). We also demonstrated that hypereosinophilia, asthma, and aspirin intolerance may increase the OR differently in eosinophilic patients. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that early identification of inflammatory patterns and associated clinical factors in patients affected by chronic nonallergic sinonasal inflammation have a prognostic value that can help to identify patients with different risks of NP development. Our data confirm that detection of nasal eosinophilic inflammation represents an early marker for identification of a more aggressive inflammatory phenotype.