KEYWORDSAcute rhinosinusitis Chronic rhinosinusitis Nasal polyp Infection Inflammation Asthma Microbiome
KEY POINTSRhinosinusitis is clinically defined as the presence of nasal drainage (anterior or posterior), nasal congestion, facial pain/pressure, and/or reduced sense of smell. In acute rhinosinusitis, nasal symptoms last for less than 12 weeks and inflammation is often secondary to a viral or bacterial infection. In chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), nasal symptoms persist for longer than 12 weeks and the inflammation observed is secondary to impairments in the epithelial barrier, dysregulation of the host immune response, and potentially infections (or colonization) by pathogens. CRS and asthma have a strong clinical association and share similar pathophysiologic mechanisms in support of the unified airway hypothesis.Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) is defined as the presence of nasal drainage (anterior or posterior), nasal congestion, facial pain/pressure, and/or reduced sense of smell. Depending on which guidelines are followed, ARS symptoms last either for less than 4 weeks 1 or 12 weeks. 2,3 ARS is a clinical diagnosis, and objective confirmation by sinus computed tomography (CT) scan or nasal endoscopy is generally not indicated. Patients can have more than one episode of ARS each year but importantly, they are asymptomatic in the intervening periods.Acute rhinosinusitis is extremely common. Studies specifying ARS found a disease prevalence of 6% to 15%, 2,4 with an estimated 0.035% of the population suffering from recurrent episodes. 5 Between 2006 and 2010, there were an estimated 21.4 million ambulatory care visits with a primary diagnosis of ARS. 6 Furthermore, in 2015 alone, acute upper respiratory infection (or presumed ARS) was one of the top 20 leading diagnoses for outpatient office visits. 7