[The use of laser Doppler flowmetry for assessment of skin prick tests with histamine solutions and allergens].
The lately noted growth of the allergy diseases morbidity requires improvement of their diagnosis methods. The skin prick test (SPT) is still the most frequently applied method in this field. The usually used visual evaluation is sufficient for daily practise but unfortunately is not error free. To minimise these errors and to make the evaluation more objective an attempt of applying of different technics such as LDF has been initiated.


OBJECTIVE
The present study has dealt with usefulness of an application of LDF method to evaluate SPT method using different allergens, solutions of histamine.


METHODS
The study was conducted on a group of 22 individuals. These individuals underwent SPT with a use of three different solutions of histamine (10.0 mg/ml, 1.0 mg/ml, 0.1 mg/ml) and allergens and the results of the test were evaluated with an application of the classic and LDF methods.


RESULTS
Based on the results of the study an optimal distance from a prick point and time of the LDF measurement (5 mm, 15 min.) were selected. The results of the SPT were analysed with a parallel use of both of the above mentioned methods, and the relation between SPT results evaluated by visual method and the results obtained with the use of LDF was found. The highest value of correlation was obtained for the diameter and area of both--wheal and flare for the histamine solution of 1.0 mg/ml, the lower value for 0.1 mg/ml, and the lowest for the solution of 10.0 mg/ml and allergen (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study shown that the optimal time for evaluation of SPT by LDF method is 15 minutes and distance from prick point is 5 mm. In such a case correlation between the parameters of visual evaluation and LDF values is most significant.
Zakrzewski
Aleksander
A
Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny, Klinika Chorób Infekcyjnych i Alergologii CSK MON w Warszawie. olozak@wp.pl
Kruszewski
Jerzy
J
Kłos
Krzysztof
K
Lademann
Andrzej
A
D000328:Adult; D000485:Allergens; D005260:Female; D006632:Histamine; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012882:Skin Tests / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
D000485:Allergens; D006632:Histamine