The nasal mucosa during long-term treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol. A light-and scanning electron microscopic study of nasal polyps.

Blind examination by light- and scanning electron miscroscope of a total of 142 biopsies from nasal polyps was carried out before and after continuous intranasal treatment with beclomethasone dipropionate aerosol, 400 microgram/day, for a period of 9-36 months. The degree of tissue oedema, the number of infiltrating eosinophil cells and the number of goblet cells in the epithelium decreased significantly. There was no change in the type of surface epithelium during treatment, and no tendency towards squamous cell metaplasia. The study suggests that beclomethasone dipropionate treatment for a period of a few years will not cause atrophic rhinitis.