Upper Respiratory Tract Ciliary Ultrastructural Pathology

Abstract

Nasal and sinus ciliary ultrastructure was evaluated in 16 patients with various pathologies of the upper respiratory tract including sinusitis, nasal polyposis, purulent rhinitis, and rhinitis medicosa. Ultrastructural findings include absent dynein arms, central tubule disorientation, radial spoke defects, atypical microtubule patterns and ciliary membrane abnormalities. Examples of each condition are presented and the implications of these findings are discussed.