Vol.103 No.3 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 103 No. 3 March 2010
The Efficacy of Allergen-specific Subcutaneous Immunotherapy for Japanese Cedar Pollinosis
Hitomi Ogihara, Atsushi Yuta, Yukiko Miyamoto and Kazuhiko Takeuchi
(Mie University Graduate School of Medicine)
Satoko Usui
(National Mie-Hospital)
Background: We studied the efficacy of allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) for Japanese cedar pollinosis.
Methods: Twenty-three patients treated with SCIT (eleven male and twelve female, mean ages of 40.6 years old) and fifteen patients with initial drug therapy (eight male and seven female, mean ages of 57.6 years old) were selected for this study. The clinical symptom score (0-4 points/day) and medication score during the periods of Japanese cedar pollen scattering, calculated from the patients' diaries as advised by the practical guideline, for the management of allergic rhinitis in Japan (2005), were compared in both groups of subjects. The influence of the treatment years of SCIT was also studied, by comparing the two groups of subjects who had experienced the first or more than second pollen season after receiving SCIT.
Results: SCIT showed significantly better results than initial drug therapy in comparison with the symptom, and medication score, during the pollen season. Continuous SCIT is therefore recommended over a period of several years to reduce the symptom in affected patients.
Conclusion: We presented the effectiveness of continuous SCIT over several years for rhe control of Japanese cedar pollinosis.
Key words :immunotherapy, Japanese cedar pollinosis, initial drug therapy