000812 - Comparison between allergy tests result

Allergy is diagnosed in children using various methods. There are not enough publications comparing the results of such tests. In Ukraine, parents diagnose allergies in their children at their own expense and can take several tests without a doctor's referral. The results of different tests may not be comparable.

We examined 30 children with allergic rhinitis who are lived in western region of Ukraine. We used skin prick tests, specific IgE by  enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and multicomponent alergic test for all examined.

As a result of the studies, differences in sensitization of patients were found, depending on the diagnostic method.

The difference between the results of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and multicomponent alergic test  was 30%. In 9 children, sensitization to house dust mites, birch, wormwood, and ragweed was detected by enzyme immunoassay. These results were not confirmed by the multicomponent test. These children did not have clinical manifestations upon contact with the identified allergens. The results of the analysis coincided in 21 children. The most common allergies were house dust mites, birch and timothy grass.

A similar result was obtained comparing the data between skin prick tests and the enzyme immunoassay. The results were inconsistent in 8 children. (26.6%).

The difference between the skin prick test and the multicomponent test was 3.3%.

Only 1 patient was found with allergic to house dust mites by skin test. This result was not confirmed by the multicomponent test. Іn 29 children the test results matched.

Skin prick test results are most consistent with the multicomponent test. The enzyme immunoassay method is more sensitive and detects low levels of sensitization that are not clinically evident. Further studies are needed to establish a correlation between allergy test results.