60 Comparison of nasal smear eosinophilia with skin prick test positivity in patients with allergic rhinitis Alerjik rinitli hastalarda alerjik deri pozitifli¤i ile nazal smear’deki eozinofilinin karfl›laflt›r›lmas› Arif fiANLI, M.D., Sedat AYDIN, M.D., Günay ATEfi, M.D., Mehmet EKEN, M.D., Özlem ÇELEB‹, M.D. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the usefulness of nasal smear eosinophilia with skin prick test for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and to deter- mine the degree of correlation between the tests. Patients and Methods: Forty-one patients (16 males, 25 females; mean age 35.17; range 14 to 56 years) with a clinical history suggestive of nasal allergy and fifteen controls (7 males, 8 females; mean age 27.6; range 16 to 40 years) without any history of allergy were enrolled in this study. Skin sensitivity tests were applied in both groups. Nasal smear was examined by light microscopy. Results: A positive skin test reaction was demon- strated in 73.2% of the study group and 20% of the controls whereas 73.2% of the patients and 13.3% of the controls demonstrated significant nasal smear eosinophilia. There was 25.5% correlation between the skin prick test and nasal smear eosinophilia, although this was not statistically sig- nificant. Conclusion: Both the skin prick test and the nasal smear eosinophilia showed correlation with the clin- ical history but there was no statistically significant correlation between the two tests. Key Words: Allergic rhinitis; skin-prick test; nasal smear; eosinophilia. Amaç: Alerjik rinit tan›s›nda kullan›lan deri testi ile nazal smear’de saptanan eozinofilinin kullan›labilirli- ¤i ve bu iki test aras›ndaki iliflkinin derecesi karfl›laflt›r›ld›. Hastalar ve Yöntemler: Çal›flmaya klinik öyküyle nazal alerjiden flüphe edilen 41 hasta (16 erkek, 25 kad›n; ort. yafl 35.17; da¤›l›m 14-56) ve öyküsünde alerjiyle ilgili herhangi bir flikayeti olmayan 15 gönül- lü (7 erkek, 8 kad›n; ort. yafl 27.6; da¤›l›m 16-40) al›nd›. Her iki gruba alerjik deri testi uyguland›. Na- zal smearler al›n›p ›fl›k mikroskobu alt›nda de¤erlen- dirildi. Bulgular: Çal›flma grubundaki hastalarda, deri tes- tinin pozitiflik oran› %73.2 iken kontrol grubunda bu oran %20 idi. Bununla birlikte hastalar›n %73.2 ve kontrol grubunun %13.3’ünde nazal smearde eozi- nofili saptand›. Her ne kadar alerjik deri testi ile na- zal smear aras›nda %25.5 oran›nda bir iliflki olsada alerjik deri testi ile nazal smear’de saptanan eozino- fili aras›nda istatistiksel olarak anlaml› bir iliflki yoktu. Sonuç: Alerjik deri testi ve nazal smearde saptanan eozinofili, klinik öykü ile iliflki göstermekle birlikte, bu iki test aras›nda istatistiksel olarak anlaml› bir iliflki bulunamad›. Anahtar Sözcükler: Alerjik rinit; alerjik deri testi; nazal smear; eozinofili. Kulak Burun Bogaz Ihtis Derg 2006;16(2):60-63 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Department of (2nd) Otolaryngology, Dr. Lütfi K›rdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital (Dr. Lütfi K›rdar Kartal E¤itim ve Araflt›rma Hastanesi 2. Kulak Burun Bo¤az Hastal›klar› Klini¤i), ‹stanbul, Turkey. Received - October 26, 2004 (Dergiye gelifl tarihi - 26 Ekim 2004). Request for revision - February 25, 2005 (Düzeltme iste¤i - 25 fiubat 2005). Accepted for publication - April 7, 2005 (Yay›n için kabul tarihi - 7 Nisan 2005). Correspondence (‹letiflim adresi): Dr. Sedat Ayd›n. Dr. Lütfi K›rdar Kartal E¤itim ve Araflt›rma Hastanesi 2. KBB Klini¤i, 34865 Kartal, ‹stanbul, Turkey. Tel: +90 216 - 441 39 00 / 1531 Fax (Faks): +90 216 - 353 20 53 e-mail (e-posta): sedataydin63@yahoo.com ◆ ◆ ◆