[Mucociliary clearance in chronic hypertrophic and chronic vasomotor rhinitis in the light of morphometric data].

This study included a total of 90 patients of whom 35 ones suffered chronic hypertrophic (CHR) and chronic vasomotor (CVR) rhinitis. All the patients were examined in the saccharine test and underwent morphometry for the measurement of the ciliary beating rate (CBR) and the magnitude of extrusion of ciliary epithelium. Saccharine transit time in the group of CHR patients was found to vary from 20 to 43 minutes and CBR to equal 3.75 Hz. All these patients showed enhanced epithelial extrusion. Saccharine transit time in patients with CVR increased up to 17-29 min, with CBR being decreased to a mean of 4.56 Hz in 33 (60%) of them. In 22 (40%) cases of CVR, CBR remained normal. Interestingly, patients with CVR exhibited no signs of epithelial atrophy whereas most of them had reduced CBR.