Smoking status is observed to be an irritant of the upper and lower respiratory tracts, ultimately leading to inflammation throughout the respiratory system. The study was done to check the hypothesis that the histopathologic features of CRS and comorbid smoking status can be determined by structured histopathology and may have important implications on disease management.
The study method used was a retrospective study method of structured histopathology reports analyzing sinus tissue removed during functional endoscopic sinus surgery. Histopathology variables were compared among patients with CRS who were reported as never smokers, former smokers, or current smokers.
285 CRS patients were included in the study, within the group the division was: 173 never smokers, 85 former smokers, and 27 current smokers. When compared with former smokers, current smokers demonstrated increased basement membrane thickening. Compared with never smokers, former and current smokers collectively demonstrated increased hyperplastic changes, increased squamous metaplasia, and trends toward increased basement membrane thickening and increased fibrosis.
The study concluded that smoking status may influence histopathologic tissue-level changes in CRS disease. Interestingly, former and current smokers maintained few differences in histopathology. However, former and current smokers collectively demonstrated increased chronic inflammatory changes compared with never smokers.
Reference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1945892420929270
