Histopathological Characteristics of Nasal Polyps in Smokers and Non-Smokers

Abstract

It is known that cigarette smoking causes squamous metaplasia in upper and lower airways. We hypothesized that in patients with nasal polyposis, nasal polyps of smokers might reveal some histopathological changes and there might be an increased neoplasia risk. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the effects of smoking on nasal polyp histopathology and clinical measures. Retrospective chart review. Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Research Hospital. Thirty smoker and 47 non-smoker patients with nasal polyposis who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery between 2007 and 2011 were enrolled in this study to assess effect of smoking on histopathological characteristics of nasal polyps and clinical measures such as endoscopy score, computed tomography score of Lund-Mackay, Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) Scale, presence of allergy and asthma, and blood eosinophil level. No statistically significant differences were found between smoker and non-smoker groups with regard to histopathological findings. Also, there were no significant correlation defined by endoscopy, computed tomography, and NOSE scores of patients between 2 groups. Smoking did not have a significant effect on the presence of allergy or asthma. But blood eosinophil levels were found to be significantly high in the smoker group. This is the first clinical study that investigates the effect of smoking on nasal polyp histopathology. In spite of the fact that smoking is associated with histopathological changes in respiratory mucosa, we did not find any significant change in histopathological characteristics of nasal polyps in smokers.