Correlation between the Endoscopic and Histopathologic Findings of Nasal Polyps.

Nasal polyposis is a frequent chronic disease causing unpleasant and embarrassing symptoms for the patients. Although much progress has been made in understanding this disease, little is known regarding the relationship between the clinical findings of the nasal polyps and histopathological findings. In this study, we evaluated the size of the nasal polyps on the basis of nasal endoscopic findings. Next, the relationship between their sizes and their histological characteristics was analyzed. During their ethmoidectomy, nasal polyp samples were taken from 82 patients. The nasal polyps were histologically differentiated by their morphological characteristics, infiltrating cell types, and fibronectin immunopositivity. We then compared these findings to the size of the polyps. Correlations between these histological characteristics were also analyzed statistically. Nasal polyps showing an edematous morphology or fibronectin expression were significantly larger in size. Nasal polyps with infiltration by eosinophils frequently showed edematous morphology and fibronectin immuno-positivity. Therefore, an edematous morphology and fibronectin immuno-positivity were also determined to be closely related. These findings suggest that an interaction between eosinophils and fibronectin might play a role in the generation of edema, which would contribute to the growth of the nasal polyps.