MORPHOLOGICAL FACTORS AND RHINITIS

Rhinoscopic examination is essential in the diagnostic and pretreatmen t assessment of chronic inflammatory rhinitis. It allows the detection of certain morphological factors associated with rhinitis: nasal valv e, septal deviation, middle and lower turbinate hypertrophy. Endoscopi c examination of the nasal fossae allows the differential diagnosis wi th other causes of nasal obstruction: congenital malformations, foreig n bodies, benign or malignant tumours. Progress in medical imaging has also allowed demonstration of other anatomical variants of the middle meatus: pneumatisation of the uncinate process, hypertrophy of Agger nasi cells, ethmoidal bulla. However, the frequency of these morpholog ical variants in asymptomatic patients raises the problem pf their rea l role in the pathogenesis or maintenance of rhinitis and nasal sinus diseases in general.