Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Original Paper Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2012;157:391–398 DOI: 10.1159/000329870 Skin Prick Testing to Aeroallergen Extracts: What Is the Optimal Panel in Children and Adolescents in Turkey? Umit Murat Şahiner Ersoy Civelek Süleyman Tolga Yavuz Ayşe Betül Büyüktiryaki Ayfer Tuncer Bülent Enis Şekerel Department of Pediatric Allergy and Asthma, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey and moulds ( Alternaria and Cladosporium) . The sensitization rates increased in conjunction with an increase in age. Test- ing with 12, 8, and 7 allergens was sufficient to identify over 95% of the sensitized preschool children, school children, and adolescents, respectively. Conclusion: An SPT panel covering 12 allergen extracts was sufficient to detect most of the sensitized children and adolescents with recurrent re- spiratory symptoms. As the patients grow older, a smaller test panel is required compared to the panels used at young- er ages. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction The assessment of immunoglobulin (Ig)E-mediated sensitization may be determined by an allergen-specific IgE in the serum and/or skin tests with the suspected al- lergens [1, 2]. The skin prick test (SPT) is the standard for the diagnosis of IgE-mediated allergic diseases. An SPT is done either to document the sensitization patterns of populations in epidemiological studies or to identify the allergen responsible for an IgE-mediated allergic disease in clinical practice. Some studies have endeavored to demonstrate the sensitization patterns in different geo- Key Words Aeroallergens  Children  Sensitization  Skin prick test Abstract Background/Objective: The skin prick test (SPT) is the stan- dard tool for the diagnosis of IgE-mediated allergic diseases. The number and spectrum of allergen extracts to be applied for the diagnosis of sensitized patients in order to achieve the most cost-effective and informative results are critical from both economic and scientific viewpoints. Methods: In order to determine the minimum test battery panel neces- sary to cover at least 95% of the cases of SPT sensitization in children and adolescents (2–18 years) with suspected respi- ratory allergies, we retrospectively analyzed the SPT results of the largest referral center of the country. Results: Over a 2.5-year period, a total of 2,457 children (male/female ratio 1.51) with a median (range) age of 6.8 years (2.0–18.0) were subjected to SPT. Eight hundred and sixty-two (35.1%) chil- dren were found to be sensitized to at least one of the 30 aeroallergen extracts tested. The most common sensitiza- tions were to grasses (Festuca pratensis, Phleum pratense, Dactylis glomerata, and Lolium perenne) , house dust mites (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides fa- rinae) , cat, weeds (Chenopodium, Plantago, and Artemisia) , Received: January 26, 2011 Accepted after revision: May 30, 2011 Published online: November 25, 2011 Correspondence to: Dr. Bülent Enis Şekerel Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Unit, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine TR–06600 Ankara (Turkey) Tel. +90 312 305 1700, E-Mail b_sekerel  @  yahoo.com © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 1018–2438/12/1574–0391$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/iaa