Research Article - Otolaryngology Online Journal (2016) Volume 6, Issue 4

Changes in Nasal Patency of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients after Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy as Evaluated Using Acoustic Rhinometry

Objective: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is currentlycurrently the gold standard of treatment for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the impact of CCRT on nasal patency is equivocal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in nasal patency of patients with NPC after CCRT.

Methodology: Fifteen patients with NPC were enrolled in the study. The nasal patency of the patients was quantified with the minimum crosssectional area of the nasal cavity (MCA), measured using acoustic rhinometry. We recorded the MCA and body weight (BW) of the patients with NPC at two time points: prior to initiation of CCRT (pre-CCRT) and 6 months after initiation of CCRT (post-CCRT). The pre- and post-CCRT MCA measurements were analyzed and compared using a paired t-test. The correlation between the patients’ post-CCRT BW loss and MCA change was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation analysis.

Result: The mean MCA was 0.75 and 0.65 cm2 pre and post CCRT, respectively. The post-CCRT MCA was significantly smaller than the pre-CCRT MCA (P=0.001). A negative correlation between post-CCRT BW loss and MCA change was observed (ρ=-0.431, P=0.017).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated (1)that the nasal patency of patients with NPC was significantly smaller after they underwent CCRT,and (2) that patients with NPC who had low post-CCRT BW loss experienced a prominent decrease in nasal patency.

Author(s): Bo-Nien Chen

Abstract Full Text PDF