title: Comparative analysis of cluster versus conventional immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis.
abstract: The present study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy withDermatophagoides pteronyssinusstandardized extract administered in conventional and cluster immunotherapy regiments for patients with persistent allergic rhinitis. A total of 60 patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinitis caused by dust mites were treated for 1 year with either conventional immunotherapy (n=30) or cluster immunotherapy (n=30). Nasal conjunctival symptoms and signs were assessed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the two regimens, and the incidence of local and systemic adverse reactions were also evaluated. The findings demonstrated that the cluster regimen reduced the duration between the initial and maintenance dose by >60%, and resulted in a significant improvement, as compared with the conventional regimen, after 6 weeks of observation (P<0.05). However, the incidence of local and systemic adverse reactions in the cluster regimen during the dose accumulation phase and the dose maintenance phase was not significantly different, as compared with the conventional immunotherapy regimen. These results suggest that cluster immunotherapy is efficacious and safe to treat patients who are clinically sensitive to dust mites.
authors.affiliation: Desensitization Treatment Center in the Department of Otolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuejun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinjian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Saiyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Desensitization Treatment Center in the Department of Otolaryngology, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325009, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ni
keywords: allergic rhinitis; clinical efficacy; cluster immunotherapy; conventional immunotherapy; safety