Pulmonary arterial pressure in children with allergic rhinitis

BACKGROUND: Chronic upper airway obstruction may lead to increased pulmonary arterial pressure in childhood. Allergic rhinitis is one of the frequent causes of upper airway obstruction by nasal blockage. The aims of the study were to evaluate the pulmonary arterial pressures in children with allergic rhinitis and the effect of topical corticosteroid therapy. METHODS: Forty-nine children composed of 27 subjects with seasonal and 22 subjects with perennial allergic rhinitis were enrolled in this study. The pulmonary arterial pressures were measured by using Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS: The pretreatment pulmonary arterial systolic, mean, and diastolic pressures of study group were significantly higher than in healthy controls (p < 0.05). The pulmonary arterial systolic and mean pressures of the patient group significantly decreased at the end of study (p < 0.05), whereas the decrease of the diastolic pressure was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) after the treatment of a topical corticosteroid, mometasone furoate (100 microg per day), for 8 weeks. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that children with allergic rhinitis have higher pulmonary arterial pressure levels compared with healthy controls and that increased pulmonary arterial pressure levels due to allergic rhinitis are reversible by using nasal topical corticosteroids. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical aspect of increased pulmonary arterial pressure.