Abstract
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive disorder in Caucasians, occurring in 1 in 2,000 live births. Since the CF gene was discovered in 1985 greater than 200 gene mutations have been identified, making a population-wide screening program very costly. A high-risk group is needed for screening. Nasal polyps (NPs) occur in 20% of CF patients and chronic sinusitis in almost all patients. This study was undertaken to potentially identify individuals with mild CF by reviewing the histologic findings of nasal polyps. Three groups of nasal polyps were examined from patients with CF, patients with allergic disease, and patients with nonallergic disease and sinusitis. Polyps were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Alcian blue-periodic acid Schiff (AB-PAS) and examined by a pathologist. CF polyps were found to be morphologically different from non-CF polyps on H&E staining. CF nasal polyps had a thin subepithelial hyaline layer and lower eosinophil infiltrates in the polyp stroma. Objective measurements were obtained to confirm our results and findings were statistically significant. These findings suggest that nasal polyp histology may be used to identify a population of patients with mild CF for genetic screening.
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