Citations

The sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) has attracted the interest of practitioners treating head and face pain for over a century because of its anatomical connections and role in the trigemino‐autonomic reflex. In this review, we discuss the anatomy of the SPG, as well as what is known about its role in the pathophysiology of headache disorders, including cluster headache and migraine. We then address various therapies that target the SPG, including intranasal medication delivery, new SPG blocking catheter devices, neurostimulation, chemical neurolysis, and ablation procedures.

The mechanisms by which bacteria colonize and damage ciliated epithelium are important in understanding the pathophysiology of rhinitis, sinusitis, and otitis. Bacteria that have the ability to impair mucociliary clearance would be at an advantage in establishing infection of ciliated surfaces. This study investigates the effect of Hemophilus Influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Brahmanella catarralis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis on the ciliary activity of normal ciliated nasal epithelium in human beings. Ciliary activity of the nasal epithelium in the presence of each pathogen was assessed for more than 240 minutes with a photometric method of ciliary beat frequency (CBF) measurement. H. influenzae exerted significant effects on ciliary activity, with a 46% decrease in the CBF by 4 hours (with bacteria‐containing broth) and a 32% decrease with bacteria‐free filtrate. S. epidermidis decreased CBF by 44% with the bacterial broth. A sterile cell‐free filtrate had no significant effect. S. pneumoniae and B. catarralis had no significant effect on CBF within a 240‐minute period. H. influenzae and S. epidermidis disrupted normal synchronous ciliary motion, causing adjacent cilia to beat at different rates.

Fifty patients who underwent nasal septal reconstruction for anterior septal deformities were examined preoperatively and postoperatively with anterior mask rhinomanography. A high degree of correlation was found between the reduction in nasal resistance after operation and the patients' subjective assessment of improvement. Those patients who improved subjectively had a mean decrease in nasal resistance of 1.2 cm H2O/L/sec, whereas those patients who indicated no improvement had a mean increase in nasal resistance of 0.2 cm H2O/L/sec.

Posterior mask rhinomanometry was used to measure nasal resistance during exercise and hypercapnia in 10 healthy adult volunteers. Exercise was produced by peddling a stationary bicycle at three loads. Hypercapnia was produced by breathing O2 mixtures containing 5%, 6%, and 8% CO2. The results showed that (1) nasal resistance decreases linearly as expired CO2 levels and exercise levels increase, (2) minute ventilation increases linearly as expired CO2 levels and exercise levels increase, and (3) nasal resistance varies inversely with minute ventilation during both hypercapnia and exercise. The constant relationship between nasal resistance and minute ventilation during hypercapnia and exercise suggests that nasal resistance is regulated by the respiratory center to match the level of respiratory demand.

Nasal secretory activity was measured in seven dogs in response to topical stimulation by histamine and methacholine. The methacholine response was blocked by atropine but not by chlorpheniramine. The histamine response was blocked by chlorpheniramine but not by atropine. These results suggest that there are two independent mechanisms of nasal secretion in the dog.

One hundred seventy‐one patients had closure of symptomatic nasal septal perforations by insertion of a Silastic nasal septal prosthesis between June 1972 and August 1981. Follow‐up revealed that successful closure of the defect was accomplished in 73% of cases, with reduction in crusting and epistaxis and improvement in nasal respiration in many cases. Prefabricated prostheses have been effective in treating smaller perforations. The treatment of four patients with unusually large septal perforations by custom‐carved prostheses sized using computerized axial tomographic scanning is described.