Rhinoscintigraphy - A simple radioisotope technique to study the mucociliary system

Purpose: This was a radioisotope study of nasal mucociliary clearance of to tal and subtotal nasal obstruction. Methods: Rhinoscintigraphy was performed by insufflating 1.85 MBq (69 mCi) Tc-99m MAA in 20 patients. Six cases were regarded as the control group, be cause the presence of small spurs does not affect nasal patency, The remain ing 14 patients had various rhinopathic conditions. Two regions of interest were selected, one in the nasal cavity and one in the pharynx. Mucociliary transport speed was calculated. Results: This parameter appeared to be a sensitive index for the assessment of the degree of mucociliary alteration, It showed that polyposis impairs mucociliary transport most severely, thus confirming the results of other p ublished studies. Conclusions: Rhinoscintigraphy proved to be a reliable, easily reproducible , and harmless method, so it may be used for follow-up examinations in pati ents who have had surgery of the nose and paranasal sinuses, and for drug t herapy of rhinopathic conditions.