Mesenchymal cell atypicality in inflammatory polyps

Abstract

Excised nasal polyps should be examined histologically for classification as to aetiological process. Recently a ‘pseudosarcomatous’ change was reported in nasal polyps. We reviewed one hundred excised polyps for mesenchymal atypicality and found a wide degree of mesenchymal atypicality in the majority of nasal polyps.Nasal and choanal inflammatory polyps are the most frequent nasal masses which the otolaryngologist has to treat. Surgical excision is frequently required to alleviate the nasal symptoms of polyps unresponsive to medical therapy. Excised nasal polyps should be examined histologically for classification as to possible aetiological mechanisms and to rule out neoplastic lesions (Shea, 1947).Smith, Echevarria, and McLelland (Smith, 1974) recently described ‘pseudosarcomatous changes’ in nasal polyps. This stimulated us to investigate our inflammatoru nasal polyps for these histological changes. Casual observations demonstrated an impressive number of inflammatory polyps with varying amounts of atypical mesenchymal stroma cells. To quantitate these alterations, we reviewed the histological slides from one hundred patients with excised inflammatory polyps and the results are the subject of this report.