Accentia launches first chronic sinusitis test
sinusitis (CS) disease has been made available by Accentia
Biopharmaceuticals, which will assist in the identification of a
problem that affects an estimated 31 million patients in the US
CS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal and sinus mucosa that persists for greater than three months.
This chronic non-infectious inflammation predisposes patients to acute exacerbations of their sinusitis due to bacterial superinfection, which requires oral antibiotic therapy.
Many patients with severe disease resort to sinus surgery in an effort to reduce nasal obstruction and improve sinus drainage.
The test, CRSFungal Profile, enables physicians to test for the specific protein marker, eosinophil Major Basic Protein (eMBP), as well as one of the fungi that causes CS.
It uses a small sample of mucus from the patient's nasal cavities. The mucus sample is sent by the physician to where it is analysed by immunoassay. Typically, results are made available to the physician within 72 hours.
Gary Cantrell, vice president sales and marketing of specialty pharmaceuticals at Accentia, said that existing interventions have been largely limited to the use of inhaled or oral corticosteroids, decongestants, anti-histamines, and sinus surgery.
These interventions, while effective, do not address the underlying cause of the inflammation, which means treatment must be sustained over a long period.
"This is the only test on the market that physicians can use to assist in the diagnosis of CS based on the underlying etiology," commented Gary Cantrell.
Historically, the diagnosis of CS has been made based on a doctor's subjective assessment of a combination of the patients' symptoms, nasal endoscopy, and CT scan of the sinuses. There has been no confirmatory diagnostic test for the disease.
Published studies by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota have provided substantial evidence that the underlying cause for CS is the presence of fungi, in the mucus layer of the nasal and sinus cavities.
While fungi are present in the majority of the population, it is an inflammatory response in susceptible patients that causes CS. This research has led to a better understanding of the condition and it has led to the development of new treatment strategies targeting the fungal etiology.
Long-term consequences include the formation of inflammatory polyps in the nose. The inflammation of CS results in symptoms that include nasal congestion, mouth breathing, nasal discharge, and post-nasal drip.
For more information or to obtain the CRSFungal Profile sample collection kit, visit Accentia's website.
