Quantitative evaluation of the symptoms provoked during the oral food challenge using the Anaphylaxis Scoring Aichi (ASCA)

Background Quantitative evaluation of the severity of allergic symptoms is needed in clinical research to establish a standard policy for the management of food allergies. However, no appropriate symptom scoring system has been available so far. We have created an original symptom scoring sheet named the ‘Anaphylaxis Scoring Aichi (ASCA)’ to be used during an oral food challenge (OFC, EAACI 2012, Geneva). The ASCA lists and sorts subjective and objective symptoms into five organs (respiratory, skin-mucosal, gastrointestinal, psycho-neurological and cardiovascular). The organ scores are given (0 to 60 points) in accordance to the severity of each symptom. The total score was defined as the sum of the highest five organ scores (maximum 240 points) observed throughout the course of an OFC.