Nonspecific nasal mucosal reactivity, expressed as changes in nasal airway resistance after bilateral saline provocation.

When using intranasal provocation tests in diagnosing nasal allergy or other hyperreactivity, it is essential to know which part of the reaction is caused by some nonspecific stimulus. The purpose of this study is to evaluate nonspecific nasal reactions of patients with chronic nonallergic perennial rhinitis as well as normal controls. The provocations were made bilaterally with normal saline solution (0.9% sodium chloride), and the changes in the nasal resistance were recorded by active anterior rhinomanometry. There was no significant difference between the chronic rhinitis patients and the normal controls. However, the individual variations were large. We conclude that a change of +/- 100-150% in the unilateral nasal resistance can be caused by a nonspecific reactivity.