how effective is normal saline irrigation on eradicating nasal fungal flora?

Background: human exposure to fungal elements is inevitable. normal inhalation routinely deposits fungal spores within the nose and paranasal sinuses. incidence of fungal infections are increasing, because of the greater use of immunosuppressive, increasing incidence of transplantation, chemotherapy, hiv infection, and diabetes mellitus. the aim of this research was to study the effects of nasal irrigation with normal saline on eliminating nasal fungal flora.methods: we studied the clinical efficacy of nasal saline irrigation on the healthy individuals in a pilot study. nasal swabs were used to get the nasal samples from 140 cases, 90 women and 50 men, currently living in tehran. those cases with positive fungal cultures, underwent nasal saline irrigation. they were reevaluated with nasal sampling and culture after a week.results: positive fungal culture was detected in 22 cases (15.7%): saprophyte fungi were the most common (45.4%). after nasal saline irrigation, negative fungal cultures were found in 54.5% of cases (p value=0.0009).conclusions: this study demonstrated that nasal irrigation with nasal saline appears to be both safe and effective on the eradication of nasal fungal flora. so, it seems to be useful in prevention and management of all types of fungal rhinosinusitis.