Prilotest, an innovative disposable skin puncture test: qualitative aspects.

Prilotest is a new disposable skin puncture test that has been recently produced and marketed by Laboratorio Farmaceutico Lofarma, Milan-Italy. The tip of the device is submerged in a well containing the allergen extract. As a result, the product is ready for use and there is no longer a need to place a drop of the allergen extract on the skin beforehand. Thus, the diagnostic procedure is simplified, the test offers excellent reproducibility. We made a comparative test of the reproducibility of the new method and Pepys' modified prick test on thirty patients (10 sensitized to Grass pollen, 10 to Pellitory pollen, and 10 to house dust mites); each test was repeated eight times. We also evaluated the specificity and sensitivity of the new method in 39 different allergic patients (13 sensitized to Grass pollen, 13 to Pellitory pollen, and 13 to house dust mites) and in 39 healthy subjects. The results show that the new method has a significantly higher level of reproducibility than Pepys' modified prick test. Furthermore, the reproducibility obtained is higher than results reported in literature for various standardized prick test methods. The sensitivity and specificity of the new method was excellent.