Thirty-five patients undergoing a functional septoplasty for nasal obstruction and pathologically high nasal airway resistance were followed up twice, at about 9 months and 9 years postoperatively. The resistance of the preoperatively narrower cavity was reduced at both check-ups, while that of the preoperatively wider cavity, and of the total nose, was lower at the late follow-up than at the early one. Seventy-four per cent of the patients were satisfied with the operation at the first follow-up, and 69% at the later one. Preoperatively, all the patients suffered from nasal obstruction. Postoperatively, at the 9-month follow-up 51% were subjectively free from obstruction, but only 26% were symptom-free at 9 years. Obviously, then, both objective and subjective changes may occur later than 9 months after functional septoplasty.

This paper deals only with "simple" nasal polyposis which is almost always found in both cavities of the nose. A computer-based questionnaire will be described. Objective methods are described, i.e. rhinostereometry, acoustic rhinometry, rhinomanometry, and nasal peak flow, and their value in estimating changes of the size of nasal polyps discussed.

Nerve fibers displaying SP immunoreactivity were detected in the nasal mucosa of several mammals. The fibers were seen around small blood vessels, seromucous glands, and beneath and sometimes within the surface epithelium. In the pterygopalatine ganglion and the trigeminal ganglion, known to innervate the nasal mucosa, SP-positive nerve cell bodies were seen. Sympathetic denervation with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or bilateral cervical sympathectomy did not visibly affect the distribution of SP fibers in the nasal mucosa in mice or rats. The findings are compatible with the view that the bulk of SP fibers to the nasal mucosa derive from the trigeminal ganglion with a possible contribution from the pterygopalatine ganglion.

Nerves containing vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were observed in salivary glands of rat, cat and man. VIP nerves were numerous in the cat while they were moderate in number in rat and man. The measured concentrations of immunoassayable VIP were in agreement with the immunohistochemical findings. Electrical stimulation of the feline chorda lingual nerve, which stimulates salivary secretion and local blood flow, resulted in a marked elevation of VIP in the venous effluent from the submandibular gland. VIP was not measurable in saliva. Gel permeation chromatography of extracts from cat submandibular gland and from venous plasma collected before and during nervous stimulation revealed one immunoreactive peak with an elution position identical to that of highly purified porcine VIP. The finding of neuronal VIP in salivary glands, its release upon nerve stimulation and its known effect on local blood flow support the view that VIP is a neurotransmitter in the salivary glands.