(A1137) The Influence of Allergic Biomarkers in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients Who Underwent Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the roles of nasal allergy, serum and tissue eosinophils, and serum IgE levels in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), focusing on their associations with preoperative disease severity and postoperative outcomes.

Methods: Ninety-six CRS patients who underwent bilateral primary FESS were enrolled. Preoperative evaluations included blood tests, sinus CT, questionnaire responses, endoscopic examination, olfactory tests, acoustic rhinometry, saccharine transit test and nasal bacterial culture. The number of eosinophils was counted in the surgical specimens. Postoperative evaluations were performed three months after surgery, excluding sinus CT. The severity and outcomes of CRS were compared between allergy-positive and allergy-negative groups, IgE-positive and IgE-negative groups, and eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic CRS groups.

Results: Serum and tissue eosinophil counts were significantly associated with a worse preoperative olfactory function and a greater postoperative olfactory improvement. No significant differences in CRS severity and outcomes were observed between the allergy-positive and allergy-negative groups, nor between the IgE-positive and IgE-negative groups. Logistic regression showed that serum eosinophils are a significant predictor of tissue eosinophils.

Conclusions: Our results show that serum eosinophil count is valuable in assessing preoperative olfactory function. FESS provided effective improvements in olfactory outcomes in eosinophilic CRS patients. On the contrary, allergy testing and serum IgE levels were not reliable tools for CRS severity or outcomes.