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. 2009 Nov-Dec;75(6):788-93.
doi: 10.1016/s1808-8694(15)30538-3.

Biofilm in chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps: pilot study

Thiago Freire Pinto Bezerra  1 , Francini Grecco de Melo Pádua, Allex Itar Ogawa, Eloisa Maria Mello Santiago Gebrim, Paulo Hilário Nascimento Saldiva, Richard Louis Voegels
Affiliations

Biofilm in chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps: pilot study

Thiago Freire Pinto Bezerra et al. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2009 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Chronic rhinosinusitis' pathogenesis is not completely established and there are some explanations for this disease, such as osteitis, superantigens, fungal-mediated hypersensitivity and, more recently, biofilms. There are no reports in Portuguese about biofilms in chronic rhinosinusitis.

Aim: To reproduce a method for visualization of biofilms in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps.

Patients and methods: Samples of ethmoid bulla of nine patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps without response to clinical treatment who underwent surgery were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy to evidence bacterial biofilms.

Study design: A contemporary cross-sectional cohort study

Results: In 55.56% (5/9) of the patients we observed biofilms by seeing three-dimensional structures, spherical structures surrounded by an amorphous matrix and water-channels.

Conclusion: We reproduced a method for visualization of bacterial biofilms by scanning electron microscopy and evidenced its presence in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

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Figures

Figure 1a
Figure 1a
Bacterial biofilm (12.000x)
Figure 1b
Figure 1b
Bacterial biofilm - illustration
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bacterial biofilm (magnified 5.000x)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bacterial biofilm (magnified 12.000x)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Bacterial biofilm (12.000x)
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bacterial biofilm (12.000x)
Figure 6
Figure 6
Non-ciliated cylindrical epithelium next to the squamous metaplasia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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