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It is well known from in vitro studies that the functional state of the ciliary epithelium
is temperature-dependent. The ciliary beat is irreversibly arrested above about
40-45°C. We exposed 30 volunteers to inhalation therapy with hot moist vapour of
about 50°C. The functional state of the nasal mucosa was assessed by counting
ciliatry beat frequency and the percentage of dead and vital ciliated cells from a vital
cytological sampling of the nose before and after treatment. The percentage of vital
cells was the same whereas the ciliary beat frequency rose significantly. It is discussed
that in the mucosal layer temperatures are not as high as in the inhaled vapour due to
the air-conditioning capacity of the nose.