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Conclusion: Systemic steroids improve nasal symptoms such as sneezing, purulent rhinorrhea, and nasal obstruction in patients with nasal polyposis, regardless of measurable response to systemic steroid. A history of allergic rhinitis is an independent prognostic factor for favorable response of nasal polyposis to systemic steroid. Overexpression of glucocorticoid receptor β is associated with glucocorticoid resistance. Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate treatment outcomes and clinically useful predictive factors for systemic steroids in nasal polyposis. Methods: The study involved 47 consecutive patients diagnosed with nasal polyposis from December 2008 to May 2010. Twenty milligrams of prednisolone were administered daily for 14 days. The following parameters were analyzed: subjective nasal symptoms, history of allergic rhinitis and asthma, SNOT-20 score, olfactory function test, bronchial hyperreactivity, blood eosionophil count, atopy, Lund-Mackay score, tissue eosinophil infiltration ratio, and expression of glucocorticoid receptor α and β in the nasal polyp epithelium. Results: In all, 62% of the patients were responders, i.e. had a decreased polyp size >25% after treatment. SNOT-20 score tended to decrease for all patients but significantly only for the responder group ( p < 0.01). Eighteen of the responders had a medical history of allergic rhinitis, but only five of the nonresponders did ( p = 0.026, Odds ratio = 4.26). Responder group polyps showed significantly less immunoreactivity of glucocorticoid receptor β than polyps from the nonresponder group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusion: Acoustic characteristics of snoring sound, such as pitch and formant, differed according to the site of upper airway obstruction determined by sleep videofluoroscopy (SVF). Snoring sound analysis can complement determination of the site of obstruction in snoring and sleep apnea patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the acoustic characteristics of snoring according to obstruction site determined by SVF. Methods: Ninety patients who underwent simultaneous snoring sound recording during SVF were included in this study. Acoustic parameters of snoring such as pitch (min, mean, max) and formant (1,2) were analyzed. Site of obstruction was determined by SVF and classified according to anatomic structure and level of obstruction. Results: Mean value of peak frequency showed significant difference between soft palate and isolated tongue base or epiglottis obstruction and combined obstruction involving soft palate and tongue base or epiglottis. Peak frequency of velopharyngeal obstruction showed difference only with hypopharyngeal obstruction. First formant showed similar results in the structure classification whereas velopharyngeal obstruction showed significant difference compared with other levels of obstruction. Other parameters (intensity, jitter, shimmer) did not show significance according to site of obstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]