Comparision of the frequently used tests in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and the evaluation of presumptive effects of skin prick test on nasal symptoms

Allergic rhinitis is an inflamatuary disease of nasal mucousa induced by IgE mediated type 1 hypersenstivity reaction and it is characterized by attacks of rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, nasal itching and sneezing. Diagnosis is based on anamnesis and physical examination followed by skin prick tests, spesific IgE levels and nasal provocation tests. The goal of this study is to compare the results of skin prick test, nasal provocation test and IgE and to evaluate the presumptive effects of skin prick test on nasal symptoms, VAS and acoustic rhinometry results. 41 patients which have positive skin prick test results to Alternaria Alternata, Pollens III and Feather Mix allergen mixtures were included in the study. Skin prick test, nasal provacation and acoustic rhinometry mesuarements were assessed and spesific IgE levels were recorded in all patients. SPSS 17.0 for Windows software package was used for statistical analysis. As a result; the evaluation of allergic rhinitis patients with positive skin prick test revealed that 80,4 % of patients had positive nasal provocation results regarding MCA2 measurements regarding based on 10 % or above changes. Similarly skin prick test results were found to be in correlation with nasal provocation test results in 63,4 % of patients if ? 20 % changes in the results of acoustic rhinometry in case MCA2 measurements were considered. Specific IgE results were found to be positive in 24,4 % of all of the patients. Presumptive effects of skin prick test on nasal symptoms were found to be statistically significant in some acoustic rhinometric parameters in the group Polen III where most 3 positive skin prick test results took place. The relevance between skin prick test results and VAS scores of the nasal symptoms was found to be statistically insignificant.Key Words: Allergic Rhinitis, Nasal Provocation, Acoustic Rhinometry