The Relative Frequency of Allergic Fungal Rhinosinusitis in Patients with Nasal Polyposis in Rasht City, Iran

Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis (AFRS) is a relatively new and known disease with effective treatment, which belongs to the group of nasal polyposis diseases. According to high prevalence of AFRS in regions with warm and humid climate, the aim of this study was to detect the frequency of AFRS in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and nasal polyposis in Amir-al-momenin Hospital in Rasht city.
During functional endoscopic sinus surgery, the samples were collected from 55 patients with CRS along with nasal polyposis and were examined in terms of histopathology, mycology, culture and total serum IgE level. Data were analyzed using chi-square and exact Fisher’s tests.
In this study, 17 (30.9%) female and 38 (69.1%) male patients with the mean age of 38.34±12.67 years, were participated. History of Atopia was seen in 54.5% of the patients, asthma in 25.5%, and blood eosinophilia (>6%) in 26.9%. Total serum IgE level was reported higher than natural value in 48.9% of the patients. Based on Kuhn and Benet criteria, the relative frequency of AFRS was 5.5% (3 patients) and nonfungal eosinophilic mucin rhinosinusitis (NF-EMRS) was 16.4% (9 patients). In AFRS patients, 3 cases had atopy, 3 were eosinophilic mucin positive, 2 cases had asthma, 1 direct smear-positive, 3 positive PAS staining, and 1 positive (Aspergillus fumigatus) culture.
In sinus samples of the studied patients, the frequency of eosinophilic mucin was much higher compared to other reports. Although, the frequency of positive smear and fungal culture is lower than other similar studies.