Non-Allergic Perennial Rhinitis

Abstract

Non-infectious rhinitis can broadly be subdivided into two subclasses, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, depending predominantly on whether or not an allergic aetiology is implicated. The term 'non-allergic rhinitis' is commonly applied to a diagnosis of any nasal condition in which the symptoms are identical to those seen in allergic rhinitis but an allergic aetiology has been excluded. These non-allergic aetiologic entities can broadly be classified as: idiopathic rhinitis; non-allergic occupational rhinitis; hormonal rhinitis; drug-induced rhinitis; and other forms (non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophilia syndrome (NARES), rhinitis due to physical and chemical factors, food-induced rhinitis, emotion-induced rhinitis, atrophic rhinitis). Idiopathic rhinitis is characterized primarily by symptoms of nasal blockage, rhinorrhoea and sneezing, although the prevalence of sneezing, conjunctival symptoms and pruritis is lower than that in allergic rhinitis. Hormonal rhinitis is often associated with pregnancy in particular, although puberty is also known to induce the symptoms of rhinitis.