2.2 Subjects and study design
The research workflow was summed up in Figure 1. CRSwNP patients who
underwent endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS)
were
selected from the department of otolaryngology in the XXX
from Jan 2015 to Dec 2017. CRSwNP was
diagnosed in accordance with the European Position Paper on
Rhinosinusitis and Nasal polyps (EPOS) 2012 guidelines (2). Excluding
criteria: 1) patients with fungal sinusitis, cystic fibrosis, choanal
polyps and odontogenic sinusitis. 2) patients without blood routine
examination and tissue specimens. 3) patients without preoperative sinus
CT. 4) patients under 16 years old. 5) patients after treatment of
systemic or intranasal glucocorticoid within four weeks before ESS.
Patients accompanied by asthma was diagnosed according to the Global
Initiative for asthma guidelines (GINA)2014(13). Patients with allergic
rhinitis(AR) was confirmed base on the Allergic Rhinitis and its impact
on Asthma (ARIA) 2010 guideline(14).
Data for peripheral blood
eosinophil counts were obtained according to routine blood
test. On the strength of our
previous study, systemic eosinophilia was defined as the eosinophil
number in peripheral blood ≥ 0.3×109/L(5).
Lund-Kennedy endoscopic (L-K) scores were assessed by two
otolaryngologists who were unaware of disease condition in the
retrospective study.