Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the medical and the surgical treatment on the olfactory functions, clinical scoring systems and inflammation markers in patients with nasal polyposis. In addition, the secondary aim was to investigate the correlation between those investigated parameters.
Subjects and methods: A total of 30 patients, who completed the standardized medical and surgical treatment and also came to 3 months of follow-ups regularly after the surgery, were included in the study. The Sniffin' Sticks olfactory tests, radiological and the endoscopic stagings, liver-expressed chemokine (CCL16) and endothelin (ET) levels and sino-nasal outcome test-22 (SNOT-22) were performed at the initial and at the end of the study.
Results: The current study had four major findings: (1) significant improvement in odor functions after treatment was determined; however, the majority of the patients had been already hyposmic. (2) In addition, significant improvement was found in ET and CCL16 levels, SNOT-22 results, and radiologic and endoscopic stagings at the end of the study. (3) However, there was no correlation between the olfactory functions and the investigated parameters. (4) There was a positive correlation between polyp recurrence and ET levels.
Conclusion: The standardized medical and surgical treatment provided a significant improvement in the olfactory functions. However, only one patient (3.3%) had become normosmic at the end of the study.
Keywords: CCL16; Endoscopic sinus surgery; Endothelin; Nasal polyposis; SNOT-22; Sniffin’ sticks; Steroid treatment.