Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Local Allergic Rhinitis in Children Sensitized to House Dust Mites.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of local allergic rhinitis (LAR) in nonatopic children remains unknown. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and severity of LAR in children in comparison to classical allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR). STUDY DESIGN: A total of 145 children (aged 1-18 years) were enrolled and classified into 3 groups (AR, NAR, and LAR) based on a skin prick test (SPT) and a nasal provocation test (NPT) with house dust mite, i.e., Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. NPT positivity was defined as a symptom score ≥2 standard deviations (SDs) above the healthy control score. RESULTS: Eighty-one children had AR (55.9%), and 64 (44.1%) had symptoms of rhinitis with negative SPT; 59 NAR (40.7%) and 5 LAR (3.4%) children were identified. The κ score for agreement between the SPT and the NPT results was 0.778 (95% CI 0.726-0.830, p < 0.001). A significant correlation was observed between wheal diameter and maximum nasal symptom score provoked by D.pteronyssinus (rho = 0.589, p < 0.001). Nasal severity according to the ARIA guideline did not show any differences in the 3 groups (p = 0.693). The AR group was older than the LAR and NAR groups (AR > LAR > NAR, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the evidence to support the existence of LAR in pediatric populations, we found that its prevalence was relatively low, possibly due to the high rate of agreement between SPT and NPT. Further investigations are needed to identify immunological as well as clinical implications of LAR.

Clinical predictors of chest radiographic abnormalities in young children hospitalized with bronchiolitis: a single center study.

PURPOSE: Chest radiography is often performed on patients hospitalized with typical clinical manifestations of bronchiolitis. We aimed to determine the proportion of subjects with pathologic chest radiographic findings and the clinical predictors associated with pathologic chest radiographic findings in young children admitted with the typical presentation of bronchiolitis. METHODS: We obtained the following data at admission: sex, age, neonatal history, past history of hospitalization for respiratory illnesses, heart rate, respiratory rate, the presence of fever, total duration of fever, oxygen saturation, laboratory parameters (i.e., complete blood cell count, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hs-CRP], etc.), and chest radiography. RESULTS: The study comprised 279 young children. Of these, 26 had a chest radiograph revealing opacity (n=24) or atelectasis (n=2). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustment for confounding factors, the clinical predictors associated with pathologic chest radiographic findings in young children admitted with bronchiolitis were elevated hs-CRP level (>0.3 mg/dL) and past history of hospitalization for respiratory illnesses (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The current study suggests that chest radiographs in young children with typical clinical manifestations of bronchiolitis have limited value. Nonetheless, young children with clinical factors such as high hs-CRP levels at admission or past history of hospitalization for respiratory illnesses may be more likely to have pathologic chest radiographic findings.