Nasal Compliance Research Articles

Nasal compliance measurement for diagnosis of idiopathic non‐allergic rhinitis: A prospective case‐controlled study of 63 patients

• Idiopathic non allergic rhinitis (i-NAR) is a frequent cause of non-allergic rhinitis and associates nonspecific symptoms. There is no simple direct procedure to establish i-NAR diagnosis. • Diagnosis of i-NAR is currently based on an absence of a definite causal factor and a lack of evidence for IgE-mediated allergy by skin prick tests and allergen-specific serum IgE • Measurement of nasal compliance with acoustic rhinometry evaluates the vasomotricity-related deformability of the nasal mucosa. It has been already suggested that nasal compliance could be abnormal in i-NAR. • In this prospective case-controlled study of 42 patients with chronic rhinitis and 21 control patients, after topical decongestion, compliances in i-NAR group were significantly increased compared to allergic rhinitis (AR) and Control group (n=21) (p<0.01). • Measurement of nasal compliance after topical decongestion allows to objectively and non-invasively discriminating i-NAR from AR. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Nasal wall compliance in vasomotor rhinitis

Nasal compliance is a measure related to the blood volume in the nasal mucosa. The objective of this study was to better understand the vascular response in vasomotor rhinitis by measuring nasal cross-sectional area and nasal compliance before and after mucosal decongestion in 10 patients with vasomotor rhinitis compared with 10 healthy subjects. Nasal compliance was inferred by measuring nasal area by acoustic rhinometry at pressures ranging from atmospheric pressure to a negative pressure of -10 cmH2O. Mucosal decongestion was obtained with one puff per nostril of 0.05% oxymetazoline. At atmospheric pressure, nasal cross-sectional areas were similar in the vasomotor rhinitis group and the healthy subject group. Mucosal decongestion did not induce any decrease of nasal compliance in patients with vasomotor rhinitis in contrast with healthy subjects. Our results support the hypothesis, already proposed, of an autonomic dysfunction based on a paradoxical response of the nasal mucosa in vasomotor rhinitis. Moreover, the clearly different behavior between healthy subjects and vasomotor rhinitis subjects suggests that nasal compliance measurement may therefore represent a potential line of research to develop a diagnostic tool for vasomotor rhinitis, which remains a diagnosis of exclusion.

Relationship Between the Relative Nasal Diameter and Pulmonary Function

The present study was made to investigate the effect of the mechanical change in the nasal cavity on the pulmonary function. Compliance and resistance in the respiratory system including the nose and lung during different phases of respiration were obtained and the relative nasal diameter was calculated to represent a mechanical property of the nasal airway. It was found that nasal compliance remained approximately the same as mouth compliance except for those cases with severe nasal obstruction. Inspiratory resistance was greater than expiratory resistance. Measurements of the pressure-flow relationship in the lower airway indicated that the nose accounted for 40% of the total pulmonary resistance during normal nasal breathing. Changes in pulmonary resistance were not linear by related to the degree of nasal obstruction. The non-linearity was considered to be due to reflex control of the respiratory system.