Evaluation of rhinostereometry compared with acoustic rhinometry

Measurement of the nasal mucosa is a challenging task. There are many diffe rent methods; each with advantages and disadvantages. In the last decade tw o new methods have been used extensively: acoustic rhinometry and rhinoster eometry. Many studies with rhinostereometry have shown interesting results. However, there have been doubts about this method. since only a few invest igators have used ir, and it has never been compared with other methods. On the other hand, the acoustic rhinometer has been compared with many other methods. In this study, we compare the results of measurements with acousti c rhinometry and rhinostereometry. Thirty patients with vasomotor rhinitis participated in the study. They were challenged with three histamine concen trations on two occasions. resulting in 180 observations with each method. Thr results were compared with each other using the linear correlation test , and showed a poor bur significant correlation (p < 0.01, r = - 0.25). We conclude that acoustic rhinometry and rhinostereometry are sensitive method s for studying nasal mucosal swelling, but that there is poor correlation b etween the two methods.