Study the Role of Nasal Scrap Cytology in Allergic Rhinitis Patients in Rural Population

Allergic Rhinitis is one of the gift of modern era. Condition is involving wide range of age group starting from children to old age people. In spite of latest diagnostic facility and advanced treatment, it is still a great challenge for the otorhinolaryngologist. This study was done to perform simple and cost effective test to understand the severity of Allergic Rhinitis. To investigate the patients of allergic rhinitis with specific focus on nasal scrape cytology. After applying inclusion and exclusion criterion were found suitable and hence selected for the present study. 100 patients who were clinically diagnosed on history and examination as allergic rhinitis were included as cases while control group consisted of 100 subjects having no symptoms of allergic rhinitis. These patients were a subjected to nasal scrape cytology for which Cytobrush Plus (Medscand Cell Sampling Kit), Malmo, Sweden, was employed. Mucosal specimens were acquired by scraping the surfaces of the middle thirds of inferior turbinates with Cytobrush Plus (Medscand Cell Sampling Kit), Malmo, Sweden. The samples thus obtained were transferred onto glass slides to be fixed in 95% ethyl alcohol and stained with May Gurwald Gimesa stain to study pattern and profile of different types of cells like eosinophils, goblet cells, mast cells. The nasal eosinophils were studied under 1000 × magnification of light microscope 10-well spread, high power epithelium fields were examined and the quantitative score of nasal eosinophils was rated according to a scale described by Meltzer. In study group all 100 patients underwent nasal scrape cytology. 25 (25%) patients in study group showed grade 1 + nasal eosinophilia followed by grade ½ + in 24 (24%), grade 0 in 22 (22%) and grade 2 + in 21 (21%). In control group 80% of subjects had grade 0 nasal eosinophilia. Difference between nasal eosinophilia in the study and the control group were found to be statistically significant. In study group 54% showed grading > 0.5 + whereas 46% showed ≤ 0.5 + . The sensitivity and specificity were observed to be 54% and 100% respectively. The results thus found were statistically significant. Nasal scrape cytology which was an added dimension proved to be a more specific than sensitive test. The specificity of nasal scrape cytology in our study was 100%. Sensitivity was only 54%. 22% of the patients of allergic rhinitis showed an eosinophil count more than 300/cu mm.

Health-related quality of life and its contributory factors in allergic rhinitis patients in Nigeria

OBJECTIVES

To determine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in allergic rhinitis patients as well as identify contributory factors to patient's well-being.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study by multistage sampling. Four-month study duration (October 2013 to January 2014). The setting of the study was Kwara State, Nigeria, which has 16 local government areas with 3 senatorial districts, total land mass of 36,825km(2) with a population of 2,591,555. 132 consenting adults; 66 of them have allergic rhinitis (AR) using Score for Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR) instrument and 66 were age- and gender-matched controls (χ(2)=0, d.f.=1, P=1 and χ(2)=1.24, d.f.=2, P=0.54, respectively). Information on HRQoL was obtained using the 14-parameter mini-rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (mini-RQLQ). Socio-demographic variables possibly contributory to patient's well-being were obtained. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare means.

RESULTS

The overall Total Symptom Score (TSS) was 3.37±0.9, while male and female allergic patients and control TSS were 3.61±1.0; 3.16±0.8, and 0.98±0.2; 0.95±0.2, respectively. Effects of gender, marital status, senatorial districts, residential area and duration of symptoms had significant impact on the quality of life. The highest correlation with TSS and components of mini-RQOL questionnaire existed between nasal problems and other symptoms (r=0.866; 0.868).

CONCLUSION

AR had appreciable impact on HRQoL of the participants. Gender, number of dependents, marital status, senatorial districts, residential area and duration of symptoms were major identifiable contributory factors to the patient's well-being.

Symptom score for allergic rhinitis

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in our study population and the correlation between the Score for Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR) and nasal smear eosinophil count.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Ear, nose, and throat clinic, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria; a 450-bed tertiary health facility.

SUBJECTS

Two hundred seventy-five consecutive, consenting patients who presented with nasal symptoms.

METHODS

Information on the 8-parameter symptom score was collected using a semistructured questionnaire by interview. Nasal smear slides were air dried, fixed with 95% alcohol, stained using May-Grünwald-Giemsa stain, and examined under a light microscope.

RESULTS

Of the 275 participants seen during the 1-year study, 116 (42.2%) were males. The mean ± SD age was 38.5 ± 16.3 (range, 14-75) years. Eighty-one (29.5%) were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis using a nasal smear eosinophil count. The most common symptom was excessive sneezing, involving 93% of patients with allergic rhinitis (P < .001). The prevalence of allergic rhinitis using SFAR was 31.6%. The SFAR cutoff was set at >8 (P < .001). The sensitivity and specificity for SFAR were 94.8% (confidence interval [CI], 90.5%-97.4%) and 95.1% (CI, 87.2%-98.4%), respectively. A high Spearman's correlation (0.88) was obtained for SFAR when correlated with nasal smear eosinophil count.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis using SFAR was 31.6%. The study shows that SFAR can be used as a simple, valid diagnostic tool in allergic rhinitis. This is important in rural settings where access to laboratory investigations might not be readily available.