Primary ciliary dyskinesia and nasal mucociliary clearance.

In this study, nasal mucociliary clearance is investigated in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia, patients with other respiratory tract infections and healthy persons. Mucociliary clearance is established with a drop of albumen labelled with 99m-Tc. From this study it appears that measurement of mucociliary clearance in the nose can serve as a reliable screening method. If a patient with respiratory tract infections shows a normal mucociliary clearance rate there is no primary ciliary dyskinesia, and a biopsy of ciliated epithelium is not necessary. If, after repeated examinations, a normal clearance rate cannot be demonstrated, a biopsy of ciliated epithelium should be taken for studying ciliary activity and ciliary ultrastructure.