Fluorescein flowmetry in human nasal mucosa.

In sixteen patients a relative blood flow, expressed as an index, in the nasal mucosa was measured by fluorescein flowmetry (FF) using an endoscope technique. Duplicate determination showed slightly lower values in the second measurement performed 5 min after the first one. This difference might be due to a too high background fluorescence in the tissue. The blood flow index was reduced to 1/3 of the original blood flow index by the administration of nose drops. These changes in man due to decongestion are comparable to the changes in blood flow index observed in a previous work (2) in rabbit sinus mucosa, using the corresponding technique.