A single center study of clinical and paraclinical aspects in Iranian patients with allergic rhinitis.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common form of allergic disorder in Iran and rest of the world. This study was conducted to investigate the symptoms and paraclinical aspects of this allergy among Iranian patients. A total of 206 patients (51.5%: male), with one of the specific symptoms of AR, from March 2005 to March 2007 were enrolled in the study. A written questionnaire was completed for each patient. Furthermore, paraclinical evaluations including CBC, serum total IgE, spirometry and skin prick test (SPT) with common allergens were done for the patients. The ages of our patients ranged from 2 to 62 years of age (mean age of 18 - /+11.8 years). Mean age of onset of symptoms was 11.6 -/+ 9.9 years. In 82% of cases histories of other allergic diseases were seen in patients or their family members. Rhinorrhea was the most common symptom in our patients (77.9%). Frequencies of mild persistent, moderate - severe persistent, mild intermittent and moderate -severe intermittent types of AR were 20.5%, 41%, 21% and 17.5%, respectively. Frequencies of positive SPTs in all cases, patients with persistent and intermittent allergic rhinitis were 86.7%, 88.2% and 84.1%, respectively. The most common allergens in positive SPTs, were trees, weeds, grasses and Dermatophagoides pteronysinus. About 55.5 % of patients showed elevated total IgE levels (> or = 100 IU/ML). Abnormal spirometry results were seen in 33.5% of cases. The present study showed that among paraclinical investigations for AR, positive SPTs with aeroallergens, are more consistent with clinical findings. Regarding high ferequency of abnormal spirometry, we recommend that clinical suspicion about hyperreactive airway disease in AR patients is mandatory and performing spirometry for these cases is necessary whenever possible.