A study of infiltrated cells in the maxillary mucosa in nasal allergy and chronic sinusitis

The cloudiness of the maxillary sinus in Waters-view is 37% in patients with nasal allergy. The pathogenesis of this cloudiness has not fully understood yet; is it due to the type- I allergic reaction, or secondary maxillary sinusitis? To clarify the pathology, we studied the infiltrated cells in 37 mucosae of the maxillary sinus in which X-ray revealed an abnormal shadow. Samples were also taken from 9 antrums with chronic sinusitis, and 18 and 4 nasal mucosae form the inferior turbinate with nasal allergy and sinusitis, respectively. Each specimen were fixed with Carnoy solution and formalin, and were stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin, and with Alcian blue & Safranin. Numbers of formalin sensitive and resistant mast cells and eosinophils were determined in the epithelium, and superficial and deep layers of the lamina propria, respectively. The population of both mast cells in each compartment was not different between nasal allergy and maxillary sinusitis both in the nasal and maxillary mucosae. The number of eosinophils in the maxillary and nasal epithelial significantly increased in nasal allergy compared with sinusitis. These results suggested that type-I allergic reaction might occur in the maxillary mucosa as well as nasal mucosa in patients with nasal allergy.