Allergic skin reactivity in 232 patients over 50 years.
We examined two hundred and thirty-two out-patients, ranging in age from 50 to 75 yrs. All patients were submitted to skin-tests: prick and, if it was necessary, intradermal reactions and/or RAST. Allergens employed were Gramineae, Parietaria, Olea, dermatophagoides Farinae, dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus, house dust, cat and dog skin scales. One hundred and twenty-eight subjects had positive responses to one or more aeroallergens. Asthma was the most frequent condition both in skin-positives and in skin-negatives. For 58% of skin-positives and 51% of skin-negatives the symptoms' onset was more than 10 yrs before our check. In 58.6% of patients we found positive reaction to dermatophagoides Farinae, in 51.5% to house dust, in 47.6% to dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus, in 34.3% to Gramineae, in 28.9% to parietaria and in 14.8% to olea. Fifty-four skin-positives subjects carried out lung function tests; in twenty-eight of them we found a bronchial obstruction. In more than 50% of the subjects, which had shown a reactivity to aeroallergens, we prescribed a specific hyposensitization. These data suggest that skin tests results in elderly patients can have a relevant role in preventive and pharmacological treatment, improving life quality.
Mariotta
S
S
Dipartimento di Scienze Cardiovascolari e Respiratorie, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Mannino
F
F
Masullo
M
M
Adani
O
O
di Venanzio
S
S
Boschi
A
A
D000368:Aged; D000485:Allergens; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D004391:Dust / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D015994:Incidence; D007428:Intradermal Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008925:Mites / Q000276:immunology; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D011852:Radioallergosorbent Test; D012882:Skin Tests
D000485:Allergens; D004391:Dust; D007073:Immunoglobulin E