Component-resolved diagnosis-assisted prescription of allergen-specific immunotherapy: a practical guide.

Allergen specific immunotherapy remains the only means to change the natural history of allergic disease. Thanks to the recent advances in molecular biology a large spectrum of purified allergen molecules are presently routinely available for diagnostic purposes. This review represents a practical guide on how to use these new diagnostic tools in order to detect precisely the primary sensitizing allergen sources in subjects showing a multiple sensitization to seasonal and/or perennial airborne allergens, thus avoiding the diagnostic mistakes that have been probably associated with the prescription and administration of several ineffective immunotherapies up to a recent past.