Correlations Between Allergen-Specific IgE Serum Levels in Patients With Ocular Allergy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate ocular allergies in patients at the Hospital do Servidor Publico Estadual de Sao Paulo (HSPE) and the correlations with serum allergen-specific immunoglobulin E levels.

METHODS

We performed a longitudinal study of patients with ocular allergies who were treated at the Cornea and Immunology and Allergy Department. Patients underwent an ophthalmologic examination to identify their primary presenting signs and symptoms. The allergy types were divided into 4 groups. We conducted the following laboratory tests and measurements: blood count, eosinophil count, total serum IgE, and specific IgE.

RESULTS

Among 61 patients, 16 (26.2%) had a clinical diagnosis of seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, 23 (37.7%) had perennial allergic conjunctivitis, 19 (31.1%) had vernal keratoconjunctivitis, and 3 (4.9%) had atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Mixed dust mites were positive in 94.9% of patients. Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (dp) and Dermatophagoides farinae (df) antigens were positive in 93.2% of patients followed by Blattella germanica, Blomia tropicalis, and mixed animal epithelia (81%, 75.9%, and 25.8%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Perennial allergic conjunctivitis was the most prevalent disorder and demonstrated higher positivity in class V/VI for specific antigens (mixed dust mites, dp, and df), indicating high antigenicity. Dust mites, D. pteronyssinus, D. farinae, B. germanica, and B. tropicalis were the primary triggers of the studied ocular allergies.