Detection of Helicobacter pylori in nasal polyps: preliminary report.

Objective: Investigation of Helicobacter pylori (HP) colonization in the nasal polyp specimens of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Design: A prospective clinical trial.

Setting: The study was performed in 23 adult patients with sinonasal polyposis and 15 controls with concha bullosa (CB) who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery.

Methods: In all patients, gastroesophageal reflux (GER) symptoms were evaluated, and in 30 of them, the HP status of the stomach was also studied. Nasal polyps, mucosa of the middle concha, and gastric specimens were analyzed using a urease test and by Giemsa staining.

Main Outcome Measures: We found HP in nasal polyp specimens in six CRS patients by the urease test and by histochemical analysis with Giemsa staining.

Results: All of them had HP in gastric specimens and GER symptoms. HP was not detected in any patient with CB.

Conclusions: These results may have implications for a possible role of HP in CRS with polyposis. If a patient has HP in his gastric mucosa and is positive for GER symptoms, HP may be found in polyps as well. Whether HP is one of the causative agents of CRS or is a result of CRS is not known. Further studies are needed to find an answer to these questions.