The simplified oscillation method for measuring nasal resistance during provocation with allergens

Abstract

The simplified oscillation method was adapted to register nasal resistance because complicated and difficult procedures limited other known rhinomanometric tests. An initial study of thirty-nine subjects compared the effect of different-sized masks, revealing that the smaller the face mask, the smaller the capacitance and the higher the effective resistance. After an initial measurement, a second study group of twenty healthy and twenty pollinosis patients aged from 4 to 40 years underwent nasal provocation with grass pollen extract. Both study groups showed that despite high resistance, reactances were minor. This occurs because the nose acts as an aperture and an aperture has minimal reactances. With increasing concentrations of pollen extract, the nasal resistance of pollinosis subjects increased steadily, whereas the controls showed no change. Passive anterior rhinomanometry was measured for comparison and results contrasted sharply with the oscillation method: prior to provocation, initial values of control and pollinosis groups were already significantly different; after provocation, there was a statistically significant rise in resistance amongst the control as well as the pollinosis subjects. Further, the oscillation method for measuring nasal resistance proved to be simple, effective, and suitable for children.