Immunopathology of chronic rhinosinusitis in young children

Article Outline

• Copyright

Maxillary mucosal biopsies from children and adults with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) were studied by immunofluorescence for lymphocytes, monocytes/macrophages, natural killer cells, plasma cells, and neutrophils. Nineteen children were investigated in a study reported by Coffinet et al from The Children's Hospital, Denver. Young children with chronic rhinosinusitis do not have the eosinophilic inflammation typical of adults; rather, they have infiltration with a mixed lymphocyte population, macrophages, and neutrophils. These results suggest that pediatric CRS has a different pathogenesis compared with the adult form of the disease.