COMPARISON OF RESULTS OF IMMUNOTHERAPY BASED ON SKIN END-POINT TITRATION, PRICK TESTING, AND SCRATCH TESTING

Presented is a clinical study comparing the results of immunotherapy b ased on allergy testing with three different test modalities: skin end -point titration, prick testing, and scratch testing. Thirty patients with allergic rhinitis were randomly assigned to one of the three test groups. Treatment vials were made on test results according to the in structions for each test. For skin end-point titration, each antigen w as included at a concentration based on the patient's sensitivity, fou nd with the fivefold dilution testing procedure. For the prick test, t reatment vials were based on a two-level test response scale of strong er or lesser positive results, The scratch test yields vials used in o ne concentration based simply on a positive vs. negative test result. Patients in all three groups were treated at weekly intervals with imm unotherapy, progressing in volume until the maximum tolerated dose was achieved. Relief of symptoms was evaluated after 6 months of treatmen t. Nine of the 10 patients receiving skin end-point titration based im munotherapy had complete relief of symptoms, and one had partial relie f. None of the patients in the prick or scratch test groups achieved r elief of symptoms after 6 months of treatment. Results dramatically de monstrate the need to base allergy immunotherapy treatment on a test t hat quantifies the patient's level of sensitivity to each antigen.