[Allergic rhinopathy: Magic Lite SQ Allergy Screen Inhalant and CAP-FEIA SX1--comparison of two allergen-specific screening tests in serum].
Although total IgE determination in the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis has been proposed for screening, specific tests seem to be more efficient. In this study, Magic Lite SQ Allergy Screen Inhalant (ML) and CAP-FEIA Phadiatop (CF) were compared in serum in a group of 101 patients with allergic rhinitis (41 women, 60 men, mean age 31.4 years, range 7-69) and 37 controls (17 women, 20 men, mean age 38.3 years, range 6-68). All patients were suffering from nasal disease. The diagnosis based on case history, skin prick test, total and specific IgE determination and nasal challenge tests. ML was found to have a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 83.8% while CF achieved a sensitivity of 94.1% and a specificity of 94.6%. Efficiency was 92.8% for ML and 94.2% for CF. A positive predictive value of 94.2% for ML and of 97.9% for CF was calculated while the negative predictive value was 88.6% for ML and 85.4% for CF. It is concluded, that both ML and CF are suitable allergy screening tests able to give a 100% diagnostic security in combination with further examinations, especially regarding the case history.