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The color of the nasal mucosa was quantitatively studied. Chromaticity of the nasal mucosa was indicated by two parameters, x (red component in RGB) and y (green in RGB) values, measured with a chromameter (MINOLTA Co., CS-100). According to preliminary studies in normal subjects, the following conditions were thought to make the method suitable for measuring the color of the nasal mucosa. 1) The chromameter can be held in the hand. 2) Brightness of the nasal mucosa should be kept as constant as possible. 3) The inferior turbinate mucosa is easier to measure than the septal one. In the preliminary study there was no significant difference in chromaticity measurements among the examiners. Chromaticity of the inferior turbinate was compared among patients with perennial nasal allergy (PNA, n = 19), with cedar pollinosis (CP, n = 11), and normal subjects serving as a control (n = 15). The x values in the PNA and CP groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.01), and the y values were significantly higher (p < 0.02). The results agreed with the macroscopic observations made by trained rhinologists. The x values increased when azelastin was administered in five of the PNA group. This increase was related to improvement of their subjective symptoms. Quantitative analysis of the nasal mucosal color could be useful for objective evaluation of the clinical course of allergic rhinitis.

Histological changes in the mucous membrane of the human nasal septum in relation to deviation of the septum were investigated in this study. The mucous membranes of both the concave and convex sides of the deviated septum, were separately studied in 16 parts of the septum, which had been divided 5 ways in the anterior-posterior direction and 4 ways from top to bottom in the vertical direction. Changes in the mucosa were also studied according to differences in age and gender. Specimens for this study were collected from 74 cadavers, including the autopsied cases of 44 males and 30 females, ranging in age from a prenatal stage of 22 weeks up to 84 years, from which cases with other nasal or paranasal diseases were excluded. The mucosa of the concave side consistently showed hypertrophic change in the height of the subepithelial mucosa, the area of mucous glands and the thickness of the muco-periosteum in each slice. This was assumed to be a finding influenced by prolonged septal deviation. Atrophy of the mucous epithelium and metaplasia into the squamous cell epithelium were frequently found in the middle portion and the population of goblet cells in the epithelium was increased predominantly in the slice from the posterior and bottom portions. The heights of the mucous epithelium and subepithelial mucosa were lower and the population of goblet cells decreased in relation to aging. However, atrophy of the mucous epithelium and increased thickness of the muco-periosteal layer predominated in the aged subjects. Sexual difference was revealed in findings of the height of the mucous epithelium, glandular area and thickness of the muco-periosteum on the concave side of the septum. The height of the mucous epithelium was higher in females but the glandular area and thickness of the muco-periosteum was much more increased in males.