Purpose: To assess the efficacy of nasal expiratory sound analysis in determining the degree of nasal obstruction.
Materials and methods: We have analyzed and recorded the expiratory nasal sounds in 18 healthy controls and in 30 patients with inferior turbinate hypertrophy before and after the administration of nasal corticosteroid treatment. Analysis consisted of the time-expanded waveform, spectral analysis with time-averaged fast Fourier transform and waveform analysis of nasal sound.
Results: Before treatment, an increase in sound intensity at high frequency was observed in the sound analyses of the patients, whereas after treatment, a decrease in sound intensity at high frequency was noted in the sound analyses of the patients. The differences between the patients and the control group were statistically significant. Data obtained with the Odiosoft-Rhino method were correlated with symptom scores and endoscopic examination.
Conclusion: Expiratory nasal sound is a practical and objective tool, which can be reliably used not only for the assessment of the degree of nasal blockage but also for the comparison of different treatment alternatives.