Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of human herpesviruses (HHV) 1-6 and community-acquired respiratory viruses (CARVs) in specimens from patients with nasal polyposis undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) and investigate the potential clinical role.
Methods: Viral occurrence was evaluated by molecular methods in polyp, turbinate mucosa, and pre- and postoperative scraping specimens from 35 consecutive patients at different time points in relation to FESS.
Results: Overall, 21 patients (60%) were positive to at least one virus in at least one specimen; in particular, 12.1% of all specimens for HHV-6 (3/35 polyps, 11/31 turbinates, 1 presurgical scraping) and 10.5% for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (8/35 polyps, 3/31 turbinates, 1/29 pre- and 1/29 postsurgical scraping), followed by CMV and HSV-1 (both 1.6%; 1/35 polyps, 1/29 postsurgical scraping and 2/35 polyps, respectively). EBV positivity tended to be higher in polyps, as well as HHV-6 in adjacent healthy turbinate mucosa, although no significant association was found. Only one preoperative cytological specimen was positive to parainfluenza virus-1.
Conclusion: No association between the development of nasal polyps, herpesviruses and CARVs seems to exist. However, the higher EBV frequency in polyps could suggest a causative role or persistence in the inflammatory lymphoid tissue.