Patient population
The Ethics Committee of the Charité University Hospital approved this
study (EA2/009/07). All investigations were conducted according to the
principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. The patients
diagnosed with CRS according to the EPOS 2012 criteria (16) were
recruited to participate in the study. All subjects gave their written
informed consent. Control subjects were recruited from patients
undergoing inferior turbinate surgery but free of CRS symptoms, as per
EPOS 2012 (16). Steroids (oral/ nasal) were not taken four weeks before
surgery. Leukotriene inhibitors were not used two weeks before surgery.
Patients were considered allergic according to clinical allergy symptoms
(positive skin prick test results or elevated specific IgE-levels to
aeroallergens plus present allergy symptoms). Subjects were registered
as having asthma upon clinical diagnosis by a pulmonologist. N-ERD
diagnosis was made based on the history of reactions to NSAIDs. Of 151
patients from the Berlin cohort, 91 nasal biopsies were obtained from 66
CRS patients and 25 control subjects.
The CRS group consisted of 66
patients (mean age 42.3 years [min 25, max 65] 26 females, 40
males). The control group consisted of 25 individuals (mean age 31.4
years [min 18; max 60]; 12 females; 13 males).
In detail, in the CRS group were included 26 CRSwNP patients (mean age
47.2 years [min 28, max 65] 11 females, 15 males ) and 40 patients
with CRSsNP (mean age 39.8 years [min 25, max 54]; 15 females, 25
males).