Reproducibility of the three-dimensional endoscopic staging system for nasal polyposis

Nasal Polyposis is a chronic inflammatory process of the nasal mucosa, characterized by multiple and bilateral nasal polyps. Different drugs have been used in its treatment. In order to study the results of different treatment modalities it is necessary to have some kind of staging. AIM: to present a new endoscopic staging method, based on nasal endoscopy and on the three-dimensional nasal polyp assessment; and compare its reproducibility with that from two other systems already established in the literature. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three experts assessed the exams of 20 patients with nasal polyposis at different times, before, at 15 and at 30 days after the start of oral prednisone, 1 mg/kg/day, during 7 days. We assessed the agreement rate among the experts, using Kappa for statistic analysis. RESULTS: The three methods were reproducible, and the method hereby proposed had the least agreement among the examiners. CONCLUSIONS: the three-dimensional staging system proposed proved reproducible, despite showing less agreement among the examiners than the other as the other two methods.