Affiliation:
1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Nihonn University School of Medicine
2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Yamanashi College of Medicine, Japan
Abstract
An acetylcholine sensitivity test for nonspecific responsiveness of the nasal mucosa was established using a fluoresceinstained thread to measure the volume of nasal discharge. This test procedure is safe, inexpensive, simple, and therefore, suitable to perform in an outpatient clinic. This sensitivity test was useful to detect nonspecific hyperresponsiveness of the nasal mucosa using acetylcholine chloride at a low concentration level, eliminating the trigeminal nerve triggering. Ten μL of acetylcholine chloride in physiological saline at a concentration of one μg/mL was dripped on the anterior portion of the inferior turbinate after elimination by aspirating retained nasal discharge, and provoked nasal discharge during 1 minute was measured using a fluorescein-stained thread. The mean dye migration distance was 0.87 ± 4.53 mm in normal control subjects, (n = 15), and it was significantly less than that of the house-dust nasal allergy group, 16.90 ± 12.60 mm (n = 16, t = 2.77, P <.01), and the cedar pollinosis group during the pollen-dispersion season, 24.30 ± 8.80 mm (n = 18, t = 6.17, P <.01). A negative correlation was found between the volume of the acetylcholine-induced nasal discharge and the threshold of the histamine sensitivity of the nasal mucosa in patients with nasal allergy (r = –0.451; n = 70; P <.01).