Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease in China: A cohort investigation and literature review

BACKGROUND Although the prevalence of aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) in western populations is high, AERD is rather rare in China, and few related studies have been published to date. METHODS We performed a prospective cohort investigation on the incidence of AERD in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in southern China. A literature search of the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database was conducted to obtain an overview of the incidence of AERD in the Chinese population, and previous studies on the incidence of AERD were reviewed. RESULTS We found 2 patients with aspirin hypersensitivity among 351 consecutive CRS (309 with nasal polyps [NPs]) patients, suggesting a rate of 0.57% in the CRS population. Forty-five articles about AERD were obtained by Chinese-language literature searches. In total, 346 cases of AERD were reported during the past 30 years. CONCLUSION Given the large population of NPs in China, the prevalence of AERD is very low, and this may be related to the reduced levels of nasal tissue eosinophilia and subsequent low asthma comorbidity.