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Evaluation of the conjunctival provocation test in allergy diagnosis
Author(s) -
GARCÍAORTEGA P.,
COSTA B.,
RICHART C.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
clinical and experimental allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.462
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1365-2222
pISSN - 0954-7894
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1989.tb02428.x
Subject(s) - provocation test , medicine , allergen , allergic conjunctivitis , allergy , dermatology , clinical history , sensitization , immunology , conjunctiva , pathology , alternative medicine
Summary Conjunctival provocation tests (CPT) were performed in 65 respiratory allergic patients, 24 of them with a clinical history of allergic conjunctivitis and 41 who had never complained of allergic conjunctivitis, to assess the role of the conjunctiva as a target organ. The usefulness of CPT and RAST to identify symptom‐related and symptom‐unrelated allergen in 51 patients sensitized to two allergens but only symptomatic to one of them was also studied. Conjunctiva was found to react in a similar way to skin in patients with and without clinical conjunctivitis. CPT was positive for both symptom‐related and symptom‐unrelated allergens in 33 of the 51 pluri‐sensitized patients. Nevertheless, in the 18 patients showing positive CPT to only one allergen, agreement with clinical data was generally found. Thus CPT appears to be a useful test in the evaluation of atopic sensitization in patients reactive to a single allergen, but not in the identification of clinically relevant allergens in individuals who are skin or RAST positive to multiple agents.