'STUDY OF SURFACTANT LEVEL IN CASES OF PRIMARY ATROPHIC RHINITIS

Abstract

We studied the surfactant system in cases of primary atrophic rhinitis compared to normal cases both histologically and biochemically. The study group included 25 cases of primary atrophic rhinitis and 10 normal volunteers. In normal cases of our series numerous multilamellar bodies , similar to that demonstrated in the cytoplasm of mammalian type II pneumocytes which is known to contain surfactant , had been demonstrated in the cytoplasm of the dark epithelial cells and in the cells of the serous acini in the lamina propria of the respiratory mucosa of the nose (figures 5 , 7 , 8, and 10).