[Prospective epidemiologic study of perioperative anaphylactoid reactions occurring in Catalonia (1996-7)].

Objectives: To determine the incidence, immunological mechanisms, severity and clinical course of perioperative allergic reactions.

Patients And Methods: Prospective epidemiological study lasting 2 years (1996-97). In 20 hospitals in Catalonia (Spain), we studied patients who suffered allergic reactions equal to or greater than grade Ib according to the classification of Laxenaire.

Dermato-respiratory allergy induced by a marine worm (Marphysa sanguinea) used as fishing bait.

A case of rhinitis, asthma, and angioedema in a fisherman from the Mediterranean coast who used marine worm (Marphysa sanguinea) as fishing bait is described. Skin tests, nasal challenge, levels of specific IgE antibodies, and histamine release test showed that this cutaneous and respiratory response was induced by allergens of the Marphysa sanguinea.

Diagnosis of allergy to peach. A comparative study of "in vivo" and "in vitro" techniques.

In our particular Mediterranean region, extensive plantations of peach trees (prunus persica) give rise to processes of peach hypersensitivity. This datum together with the scarcity of literature and the use of disparate methods of diagnosis prompted us to select the peach as an example of hypersensitivity to a fruit, and to examine the clinical symptoms, skin tests, specific IgE antibodies (RASTR) and histamine release in a group of 25 patients with peach allergy. The results showed a good concordance between clinical history and skin tests (78%) and between RASTR (82%) and histamine release (74%) when comparison was made with the clinical history.

[The histamine liberation test as a diagnostic parameter and its possible modification following specific immunotherapy].

It is generally accepted that the allergic reaction depends on the levels of specific IgE, on the concentration of blocking antibodies and on the capacity of the basophils to release mediators. The fact that in the histamine release test (HRT) all of the elements intervening in an allergic reaction (antigens, IgE, basophils and mononuclear cells of a lymphoid origin) have been found, has led some authors to consider it as the most suitable method of "in vitro" diagnosis. This is a reflection of what biologically occurs "in vivo".

T cell subsets in allergic respiratory disease using monoclonal antibodies.

Fifty patients with perennial allergic rhinitis and extrinsic allergic asthma were studied to determine the relative percentages of OKT3+, OKT4+ and OKT8+ cells as well as the OKT4+/OKT8+ ratios. The percentages of the OKT3+ cells (66 +/- 7) were reduced when compared with those of 50 healthy controls (72 +/- 6), (p less than 0.001).