[Endonasal measurement of mucociliary clearance at various locations in the nose: a new diagnostic tool for nasal function?].

INTRODUCTION

Mucociliary clearance is one of the major functions of the nasal epithelium. Limited information on the physiology or malfunction could up to now only be obtained by experimental investigations in vitro with cytological measurements of ciliary beat frequency or with extensive, time-consuming in-vivo-tests.

METHODS

We developed a new technique, which measures the transport capacity at various locations at the mucosa in the nose of a sitting patient with a short (30 sec) video-endoscopic examination. The velocity of a 500 microm TiO2-microsphere as inert marker, which is placed on the mucosa region of interest, is measured by a vector-analytic calculation in mm/min.

RESULTS

: We validated this technique in 20 subjects with measurements on the floor of the nose. The inter-individual variance and variable transport speed at different locations as known from the literature could be confirmed.

CONCLUSIONS

This technique allows for the first time to measure the mucociliary clearance at various locations inside the nose of a patient in a short and easy to perform procedure, which up to now necessitated extensive or experimental set-ups. Besides the establishment of a register of mucociliary clearance at various anatomical localisations inside the nose (olfactory epithelium, conchae, surrounding of the ostiae etc.), we intend to verify if this technique can be used as a new diagnostic tool to obtain a deeper insight into some pathologic alterations or uncharacteristic symptoms ("post-nasal-drip") or drug-effects in the nose and in the tracheo-bronchial system.