Long-term study of flunisolide treatment in perennial rhinitis with special reference to nasal mucosal histology and morphology.

Ten patients with allergic perennial rhinitis completed a 3-month course of reatment with flunisolide nasal spray. Biopsy of the nasal mucosa was carried out before the initiation of treatment and at the end of the treatment period. The flunisolilde was administered as a 0.025% solution twice daily at a total daily dose of 200 micrograms. No histological abnormalities which could have been attributed to the effects of the drug were found in the post-treatment biopsies. Comparison of the pre- and post-treatment histological features showed either that there had been no apparent changes or that there had been a reduction in the oedema and/or cellular infiltration which had been present initially. All except one patient improved clinically and in this case the pre-treatment nasal biopsy demonstrated features of atrophic rhinitis.