In asthma, an abundance of fenestrated capillaries in bronchial mucosa may be related to epithelial damage or local eosinophilia in the bronchi.
To determine the relationship between such abundance and eosinophilia or epithelial damage in patients with nasal allergy, we used electron microscopy to study nasal mucosa obtained surgically from 45 patients with allergic rhinitis and 10 with nonallergic rhinitis.
No significant difference in the abundance of fenestrated capillaries was found between allergic and nonallergic patients. No significant relationship was found between the abundance of fenestrated capillaries in nasal mucosa and local eosinophilia or the grade of torn tight junction of nasal mucosal epithelial cells.
No implicative relationships of abundance of fenestrated capillaries, eosinophilia, or epithelial damage in allergic nasal mucosa was thus seen.
