Rate of allergic fungal etiology of chronic rhinosinusitis in Turkish population

The aim of this study is to investigate intranasal fungal incidence in Turkish patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). One hundred patients with CRS and 40 healthy subjects as a control group were included in the prospective study. Nasal lavage samples were investigated for the presence of fungus, using new culture techniques and histopathologic examination. Epidermal and intradermal hypersensitivity tests were used to find out fungal atopy. Levels of serum eosinophils, total IgE and presence of fungus-specific IgE were investigated in the blood samples. Quantitative parameters were analyzed using Pearson chi(2) test. Allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) was diagnosed in 13(13%) patients. There was no fungal growth in the control group. Eosinophilic mucin was detected in 94% of patients. Clinical and laboratory parameters of CRS were not significantly different in patient groups with or without intranasal fungi. As a result, fungal incidence was not as high as expected in Turkish patients with CRS. Furthermore, no significant correlation could be found between presence of intranasal fungus and type-1 hypersensitivity in patients with CRS.