DRY AND CRUSTY NASAL MUCOSA AS A SIGN OF INCREASED SENSITMTY TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

摘要

Exposure to irritating pollutants make some people react with nasal symptoms and asthma, even if traditional clinical tests show no remarkable values. To extend the study of this, data from a prospective study of teachers in a renovated, earlier moisture damaged school and a control school without moisture problems were used. 28 teachers from the target school and 18 teachers from the control school were examined rhinoscopically and thereafter exposed to a nasal histamine provocation test. The rhinoscopic examination of all teachers showed that 15 subjects had a dry and crusty mucosal appearance and 31 did not. The prevalence of this rhinoscopic finding was similar in both schools. Those with a dry and crusty appearance reacted significantly more in the histamine provocation test compared to the other teachers (p=0.0004). The teachers with a rhinoscopically dry and crusty mucosal appearance complained more frequently about skin symptoms (53 % and 7%, respectively, p＜ 0.01) and reported somewhat more irritative mucosal symptoms (33% and 16% respectively) than those without this appearance In conclusion a similar prevalence of teachers with dry and crusty nasal membranes in both the target and the control school, might indicate a constitutional factor and the existence of a subgroup in the total population,reacting more strongly to environmental factors.