We describe a case of occupational rhinitis and asthma in a 46-year-old carpenter who presented nasal and bronchial symptoms after cedrorana (Cedrelinga catenaeformis Ducke) wood dust exposure. Skin prick tests (SPT) with a battery of common allergens and different kinds of wood, were positive to cedrorana and grass pollen and negative to the other wood extracts. Nasal provocation and exposure ...

BACKGROUND A 3-year course of specific immunotherapy (SIT) in children with hay fever to grass and/or birch pollen significantly reduced the risk of developing asthma. To investigate the long-term preventive effect, we performed a follow up--2 years after termination of immunotherapy. METHODS A total of 183 children, aged 6-14 years with grass and/or birch pollen allergy could be investigated...

BACKGROUND While high doses of caffeine may affect pulmonary function and bronchial challenge tests in patients with mild asthma, the effects of lower doses (< or = 5 mg/kg) are less well documented. Specific recommendations exist for withholding theophylline, but not caffeine, before bronchoprovocation and pulmonary function testing. METHODS To assess the effect of a single oral dose of caff...

In sensitized subjects, provocation tests to latex may induce severe systemic reactions and even anaphylactic shock. It is probable that part of the risk is due to the difficulty in grading the stimulating dose and in starting from very low levels of exposure. To identify the aetiological agent of work-related asthma in four nurses with previous allergic contact urticaria to latex surgical glov...

Tracheal/chest auscultation for wheeze and transcutaneous oximetry have both been suggested as measures of outcome in bronchial provocation tests in young children. This study aimed to compare the sensitivity and safety of these two techniques as end-points for methacholine challenge in children aged <4 yrs. Seventy-two methacholine challenges were performed in 39 children aged <4 yrs with recu...

1. Bronchial responsiveness to inhaled methacholine was studied in ten heart-lung transplant (HLT) recipients a mean 10.6 months (range 1.5-28 months) post-HLT and in ten normal subjects. 2. The mean provocation dose of methacholine producing a 20% fall in FEV1 (PD20 FEV1) was significantly lower in the HLT recipients (1.70 +/- 3.96 mg vs 11.55 +/- 3.79 mg; P less than 0.001), as was the mean p...

A potential source of bias in prevalence rates reported for symptoms and diagnoses of asthma in longitudinal studies could arise if repeated questioning of subjects or previous experience of lung function and airway responsiveness tests increased awareness of respiratory symptoms. We wished to determine the extent of any such bias by comparing reported prevalence rates from a longitudinal and c...

Allergic diseases such as asthma and rhinitis are common in many countries. Globally the most common allergen associated with symptoms is produced by house dust mites. Although the bed has often been cited as the main site of exposure to mite allergens, surprisingly this has not yet been directly established by measurement due to a lack of suitable methods. Here we report on the development of ...