Health Watch: Nasal Congestion: Sinuva Melts It Away

NEW YORK CITY (KFSN) -- People with allergies or asthma may be at risk for developing nasal polyps: tiny, grape-like sacs that block nasal passages, making it tough for a person to smell or taste. Now a new procedure restores the senses by getting rid of non-cancerous polyps, no surgery needed. Nasal Congestion

For Monteverde at Oldstone Executive Chef Eric Korn, cooking is serious business.

Korn said, "I'm touching, cutting, tasting everything that goes through that kitchen."

But the job he loved was almost wrecked by chronic sinus infections. Three years ago ...

"I woke up one day and it was gone. Couldn't smell anything," Korn shared.

Without the sense of smell, Korn also lost the ability to taste the foods he was in charge of preparing.

"Worried about my career. Short term you can figure something out. Long term, that's a disaster," Korn told Ivanhoe.

Ear, nose and throat surgeon Michael Bergstein, MD at ENT and Allergy Associates diagnosed Korn with nasal polyps and removed them surgically. Within a few months, they came back.

Korn said, "Dr. Bergstein called me one day and said, "Hey I have this idea, it's new. Wanna try it?'"

Using a small deployment system, Dr. Bergstein guided a tiny web-like implant called Sinuva into Korn's sinus cavity. Once in place, Korn wasn't able to feel it. The implant is designed to release an anti-inflammatory medicine for 90 days.

"Over the course of the three months, the polyps melt away," Dr. Bergstein said.

Two weeks after the procedure, Korn woke up and could smell again. He says his sense of smell and taste are now back to normal.

Korn said, "It was a really easy procedure that turned my life around."

Keeping his kitchen and career on track.

The Sinuva implant took just ten minutes under a topical anesthesia in Dr. Bergstein office. Eric Korn said it was less uncomfortable than having a root canal. Sinuva is FDA-approved and is covered by most insurance.