Consensus Document on Nasal Polyposis POLINA PROJECT. SEAIC-SEORL

 Nasal polyposis (NP) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the nasal mucosa and paranasal sinuses, and which leads to the formation of polyps. The most recent studies suggest NP to be a chronic rhinosinusitis subtype with differential characteristics that could advise a specific diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the disorder. Although the precise prevalence of NP is not known, different epidemiological studies have suggested a fi  gure of 2-4%. This indicates that the condition is an important health problem, with a high sociosanitary cost. The management of NP involves the following specialties: Primary Care, Pediatrics, Pneumology, Allergology and Otorhinolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat, ENT). For this reason we consider a multidisciplinary approach to be essential for both diagnostic evaluation and treatment strategy of the disease. Two years ago, on occasion of a joint meeting between ENT specialists and allergologists in Lisbon, Antonio Valero (Coordinator of the Rhinoconjunctivitis Committee of the Spanish Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (Sociedad Española de Alergología e Inmunología Clínica, SEAIC)) and Adolfo Sarandeses-García (President of the Rhinology and Allergy Commission of the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology (Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología, SEORL)) proposed a group of experts in Rhinology from our respective Societies to create a Consensus Document and update on nasal polyposis. This SEAIC-SEORL Consensus Document on Nasal Polyposis has been called the “POLINA” Project. The work started by these two scientific societies is the best formula for improving the treatment of these patients and for drawing attention to the needs of a still little known illness. The document will help those professionals who care for patients with NP to offer help based on the best evidence possible. Those who read this document will have the guarantee that it reflects the expertise of the best specialists, with a view to offering optimum evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, on the basis of current knowledge. The document contains no personalisms - only experience based on scientifi  c evidence. It has been particularly satisfying to see how colleagues and professionals from two different specialties have worked as a team with a common purpose, rather than as competitors. We feel that to address any given disease it is not enough to have the best specialist or the most advanced technology. In order to progress in our knowledge of the complexity of a disorder, we need multidisciplinary teams capable of working in harmony and with rigor, without losing respect for solid ethics in a highly technified world in which we sometimes forget that patients feel and suffer, even if their health problem does not represent a lifethreatening condition. It has been our firm intention, or at least our hope, to establish the POLINA Consensus Document as a useful tool for all physicians who deal with nasal polyposis – from primary to specialized care.