Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol (2009) 266:231–235 DOI 10.1007/s00405-008-0722-9 123 RHINOLOGY Histopathological examination of the eVects of radiofrequency treatment on mucosa in patients with inferior nasal concha hypertrophy Mustafa F. Sargon · H. Hamdi Çelik · S. Sabri Uslu · Ö. TaokÂn Yücel · Cem C. Denk · Alper Ceylan Received: 8 February 2008 / Accepted: 21 May 2008 / Published online: 10 June 2008  Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Radiofrequency reduction has become one of the most popular methods in the treatment of inferior nasal concha hypertrophy. During surgical treatment of inferior nasal concha hypertrophy, it is important to cause minimal injury to the overlying ciliated epithelium, since if the cili- ated structure of this epithelium is permanently disrupted, it is hard to carry out one of the important functions of lining of the nasal cavity, mucociliary clearance. In this study, the ultrastructure of inferior nasal concha epithelium was examined by transmission and scanning electron micros- copy in 40 patients with inferior nasal concha hypertrophy. The biopsy specimens were taken before the radiofre- quency treatment and 8 weeks after the radiofrequency treatment. Then, the eVects of radiofrequency treatment on concha epithelium and morphology of ciliae were exam- ined ultrastructurally. In the scanning and transmission electron microscopic examination of the tissue samples taken before radiofrequency treatment, no ultrastructural pathology was observed in the number and morphology of the ciliae and the inferior nasal concha epithelium. The biopsy specimens obtained 8 weeks after radiofrequency treatment also did not show any ultrastructural pathology in these parameters. However, in the transmission electron microscopic examination of the subepithelial tissue, Wbrosis was observed in local areas in the biopsy specimens obtained 8 weeks after radiofrequency treatment. In conclu- sion, the results obtained from this study suggest that cili- ated epithelium of the inferior nasal concha is not destroyed by radiofrequency reduction. Keywords Radiofrequency · Inferior nasal concha · Hypertrophy · Ultrastructure · Electron micrograph Introduction In the surgical treatment of the patients with inferior nasal concha hypertrophy, the most common methods used are partial resection, lateralization, cryotherapy, reduction by laser application, electrocauterization, submucosal resec- tion of inferior nasal concha, reduction by using surgical instruments and application of radiofrequency. Reduction performed by using the radiofrequency treatment is the most popular method in the treatment of inferior nasal con- cha hypertrophy in the recent years [2, 4, 6, 11]. Addition- ally, this method is frequently used in the treatment of soft palate Xaccidity and hypertrophy of the base of the tongue in snoring and obstructive sleep apnea patients [10]. During surgical treatment of the patients with inferior nasal concha hypertrophy, the protection of the ciliated concha epithelium has a great importance. If there is any damage in the ciliae of this epithelium, one of the most important functions of nasal cavity which is the mucocili- ary cleaning function will not be performed. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to examine the ultrastructural appear- ance of the ciliated concha epithelium and underlying tis- sues by transmission and scanning electron microscope obtained from patients with nasal obstruction due to hyper- M. F. Sargon (&) · H. H. Çelik · C. C. Denk Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey e-mail: mfsargon@hacettepe.edu.tr S. S. Uslu · A. Ceylan Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey Ö. T. Yücel Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey