Rhinitis
From Ganfyd
Rhinitis is nasal hyperfunction and tissue inflammation that leads to nasal congestion, rhinorrhoea, nasal obstruction, pruritus and/or sneezing. It is associated with a significant impact on a patient's quality of life.[1]
Pathophysiology
The exact mechanism is not fully understood. Two main factors contribute to rhinitis - vasoactive mediators and neural factors. Vasoactive mediators are released from a variety of cells (including neural tissue) and these act on mucosal glands to increase secretion, and on blood vessels to cause vasodilation and increase exudation. Neural factors influence both autonomic fibres and local sensory nerve fibres, and again cause gland stimulation and vasodilation. Pruritis occurs when mast cells and basophils liberate their contents.
Categories
There are many different systems to categorise rhinitis. The most commonly used one divides rhinitis into allergic rhinitis and nonallergic rhinitis.
- Allergic rhinitis
- Intermittent allergic rhinitis
- Persistant allergic rhinitis
- Nonallergic rhinitis
- Infective rhinitis
- Intrinsic rhinitis (noninfective nonallergic rhinitis)
- Atrophic rhinitis
- Vasomotor rhinitis
- Rhinitis medicomentosa
- Other causes
