In 48 patients with nasal polyps (NP) without data on acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) intolerance recorded in the case-history the nasal challenge test with acetylsalicylic lysine was made. The group comprised 23 patients with nasal polyps and bronchial asthma and 25 patients with nasal polyposis without asthma. The test could not be performed in six patients because of an increased non-specific sensitivity. The group of 42 patients was analyzed and the test could be evaluated. The test was positive in 16 patients, negative in 26 patients. The challenge test confirmed ASA intolerance in 11 of 19 (58 %) patients with NP associated with asthma and in 5 of 23 (22 %) patients with NP without asthma. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p = 0.012). The major part of patients with nasal polyps and bronchial asthma thus represented a clinically not fully expressed syndrome of the triad asthma, polyps, ASA intolerance. A permanent or frequent suppurative nasal secretion was found in 14 of 16 patients with a positive ASA test, at the borderline of statistical significance (p = 0.089) more frequently when compared with the group of ASA negative patients. This symptom was thus typical for patients with an incompletely expressed syndrome of ASA intolerance.

        Key words: nasal polyps, asthma bronchiale, nasal challenge test, lysine aspirin, aspirin