Quantitative cytology of nasal secretions under various conditions.

Quantitative cytology was performed in nasal secretions of normal control (NC), seasonal allergic rhinitis in season (SAR), perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR), chronic sinusitis with mucoid secretion (MS), and chronic sinusitis with mucopurulent secretion (MPS). The majority of inflammatory cells were neutrophils in NC, MS, and MPS; the majority were eosinophils in SAR and PAR. The concomitant appearance of inflammatory cells in nasal secretions was found, i.e., there were significant correlations between neutrophil and eosinophil counts in MPS, and between eosinophil and basophil counts in SAR. The eosinophil/neutrophil ratio was more than 0.1 in SAR and PAR, but the ratio was less than 0.1 in all NC, all MPS, and in 93% of MS; this indicates that 0.1 in eosinophil/neutrophil ratio is the critical value between allergic and nonallergic nasal diseases.