The Application of Laser Doppler Flowmetry for Allergic Rhinitis and Rhinitis Medicamentosa

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Allergic rhinitis (AR) and rhinitis medicamentosa (RM) have different mucosal color and pathophysiology. To investigate whether the mucosal color and nasal blood flow are different between the diseases in spite of same symptoms, we designed this study. Materials and Methods: 20 patients with allergic rhinitis and 21 patients with rhinitis medicamentosa were compared with 20 normal volunteers using mucosal color grading and Laser Doppler flowmetry. The Laser Doppler flowmetry was performed with a Periflux 4001 (Perimed, Jrtlla, Sweden) and perfusion unit (PU), velocity unit (VU), and concentration Unit (CU) were measured. The Laser Doppler flowmetry data in AR and RM were compared with those of the normal subjects, and between AR and RM. RESULTS: The perfusion score of AR and RM were lower than the control (p<0.05) and it was statistically significant that the mucosal color of AR were pale and of RM were reddish, comparing to the control group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The nasal blood flow was decreased with AR and RM compared to control but the mucosal color of AR and RM were different because of the difference of pathophysiology of diseases. When diagnosing RM, observation of mucosal color and measurement of nasal blood flow will be helpful besides the history of long-term use of nasal decongestant.

Frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies of Koreans / 대한수혈학회지

BACKGROUND: Several studies on the frequency and distribution of unexpected antibodies of Koreans have been done by some investgators. But more studies are necessory to grasp the real frequency and distribution. We hoped to investigate the frequency and distribution of unexpected antiboddis of Koreans. METHODS: We performed 188 unexpected antibody identification tests to evaluate the distribution of unexpected antibodies from May 1997 to June 1998. The sera we tested are antibody screening positive ones sent from 11 hospitals and 1 blood center. We also analized the frequecny of unexpected antibodues from the data of Dongsan Medical Center's antibody screening tests. RESULTS: The frequency of unexpected antibody of this study (using tube method) was 1.0%. Both anti-Lea and anti-E (with anti-c) antibodies were the most frequent antibodies up to 31 cases (33.0%) each. Among the identified antibodies from Dongsan Medical Center which used tube method, anti-Lea antibody was the most frequent antibody (41.3%). Otherwise among the identified antibodies from other two hospitals which used gel card method, anti-E (with anti-c) antibody was the most frequent antibody (45.5%). The cause of all four cases of hemolytic disease of newborn was anti-E antibody. About half of the specimens' antibodies were not identified due to the problemes of identification cells, tested sera, test methods. CONCLUSION: Anti-Lea and anti-E (with anti-c) antibodies were the most frequent ones in Korean people. But the prequency was varied according to antibody screenig test methods. Anti-E antibody is the most important unexpected antibidy for hemolytic disease of newborn in Korea. To decrease the missed cases of antibody identification tests both Korean and foreign identification cells, enzyme method should be used.