Role of FEF25-75 as an early marker of bronchial impairment in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Background: Allergic rhinitis may be associated with asthma. Forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of vital capacity (FEF2575) is a measure of small airways narrowing. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) without symptoms of asthma might, nevertheless, have airways obstruction both in and out of the pollen season.

Role of FEF25%-75% as a predictor of bronchial hyperreactivity in allergic patients.

Background: The small airways may play an important role in the clinical manifestations of asthma. Forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% (FEF25%-75%) has been proposed as an approximate measure of the caliber of distal airways. Bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) is a feature of asthma.

Decongestion test in patients with allergic rhinitis: functional evaluation of nasal airflow.

Background: Rhinomanometry measures nasal airflow that is frequently impaired in allergic rhinitis. Decongestion tests consist of spraying an intranasal vasoconstrictor drug to evaluate the reversibility of nasal airflow limitation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the decongestion test in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) caused by pollen sensitization, perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR) caused by sensitization to perennial allergens only, or mixed allergic rhinitis (MAR) caused by sensitization to both allergens.

[Allergic rhinitis frequently impairs bronchial function].

There is a clear connection between upper and lower airways. Allergic rhinitis may affect asthma by worsening natural history. Airways share similarities and differences such as: epidemiology, anatomy, physiology, immunopathology, and treatment.

Improvement of clinical and immunopathologic parameters in asthmatic children treated for concomitant chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis is frequently associated with asthma. A Th2 cytokine pattern has been recently reported in chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of treating concomitant chronic rhinosinusitis on respiratory symptoms and function and immunopathological parameters in asthmatic children.

Double-blind, randomized, multicenter study comparing the effect of betahistine and flunarizine on the dizziness handicap in patients with recurrent vestibular vertigo.

Objective: The aim of this double-blind, randomized, multicenter study was to compare the efficacy of betahistine dihydrochloride (BH) and flunarizine (FL) using the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI), a validated self-assessment questionnaire that has not previously been used in a clinical trial to evaluate antivertigo drugs.

Material And Methods: Patients with recurrent vertigo of peripheral vestibular origin and who were severely handicapped by vertigo were randomized to an 8-week course of treatment with oral BH 48 mg daily or oral FL 10 mg daily. The efficacy endpoints were the total DHI score and the physical, functional and emotional subscores.

Medical treatment reverses cytokine pattern in allergic and nonallergic chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children.

A Th2 cytokine pattern has recently been reported both in allergic and nonallergic chronic rhinosinusitis in asthmatic children. The aim of the study was to evaluate the cytokine pattern in chronic rhinosinusitis in allergic and nonallergic asthmatic children before and after medical treatment. Thirty asthmatic children were evaluated, 18 males and 12 females (mean age 9.

Naturally occurring immune response against bacteria commonly involved in upper respiratory tract infections: analysis of the antigen-specific salivary IgA levels.

Lyophilized bacterial lysates, which actively stimulate the immune response, are widely used as vaccines or 'biological response modifiers' in subjects with recurrent bacterial respiratory infections. Since vaccines are indicated in the absence or in the presence of a weak constitutive immune response activity, a better knowledge on the 'naturally' occurring antibacterial immune response at the oropharingeal level should be helpful. A study was, therefore, designed to quantify the presence of salivary IgA directed against surface antigens bacteria frequently involved in the pathogenesis of upper respiratory tract infections: Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP), Staphylococcus aureus (SA), Streptococcus pyogenes (SPy), Morraxella catarrhalis (MC), Haemophylus influenzae (HI), and Streptococcus pnumoniae (SPn).