Correlation between sfar score and nasal cytology in paediatric allergic rhinitis patients visiting OPD in Goa Medical College

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis is 10-20% worldwide. Allergic rhinitis being a non fatal condition is often trivialized but it causes significant morbidity. The diagnosis of allergic rhinitis is mainly clinical, which often fails in differentiating allergic versus non allergic rhinitis. The importance of this study is to find the effectiveness of nasal mucosal cytology as a diagnostic method for allergic rhinitis, nasal cytology being a simple, non invasive and easily available test may be used as a tool in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis.

Objective: To find the correlation between SFAR score and nasal mucosal eosinophilia in diagnosing allergic rhinitis.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive prospective hospital based study conducted over a period of two years in Goa medical college. Children in the age group of 1-12 years in whom a clinical diagnosis of allergic rhinitis was made based on ARIA guidelines were included in the study. A subjective definition of allergic rhinitis was made using SFAR score. Nasal smears were collected and examined for eosinophils. A semi quantitative scale was used for grading nasal mucosal eosinophilia.

Results: A positive correlation was obtained between nasal smear eosinophilia and SFAR score. The spearman’s correlation was 0.426 suggesting a correlation.

Conclusion: Nasal mucosal smear eosinophilia can be used as a simple, cheap and non invasive method in diagnosing allergic rhinitis especially in resource limited settings.