ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cow's milk allergy diagnosis many times requires double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), which presents high accuracy but involves risks, specifically in infants and anaphylactic patients. The identification of the cut-off values for specific IgE to milk or its components would contribute to cow's milk allergy (CMA) diagnosis. The aim of this study was to compare discriminating concentration of a cow's milk specific IgE and its fractions (α-lactoalbumin, ß-lactoglobulin, casein) in children for the CMA diagnosis. METHODS: this study included 123 patients (M:F=1.3:1) median age at diagnosis=1.91 years, (3.5m to 13.21y) with CMA diagnosis via DBPCFC (n=26), proven anaphylaxis due to cow's milk (n=46) or a suggestive clinical history associated with a positive skin prick test (n=51) and open oral food challenge. The control group included 61 patients (1 male:1.1 female) ages ranging from 0.66 to 16.7 years (median=6.83 years). Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed to determine the best cut-offs that guarantees high specificity (>95%) for cow's milk and its components. RESULTS: considering 98% specificity, cut-off points were: 3.06 kU/L for cow's milk, 2.06 kU/L for α-lactalbumin, 1.85 kU/L for ß-lactoglobulin and 1.47kU/L for casein. The best ROC curve (area under the curve=0.929) was obtained evaluating cow's milk. CONCLUSION: this study showed that the cut-off point detected for whole cow's milk revealed a better discriminatory capacity for CMA diagnosis without the necessity of the milk components testing.
Subject(s)
Anaphylaxis/prevention & control , Milk Hypersensitivity/diagnosis , Population Groups , Adolescent , Anaphylaxis/etiology , Animals , Cattle , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Immunization , Immunoglobulin E/blood , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Infant , Male , Milk/immunology , Milk Hypersensitivity/complications , Reference Standards , Reference Values , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Blood pressure (BP) measurement is the basis for the diagnosis and management of arterial hypertension. The aim of this study was to compare BP measurements performed in the office and at home (home blood pressure monitoring, HBPM) in children and adolescents with chronic arterial hypertension. HBPM was performed by the patient or by his/her legal guardian. During a 14-day period, three BP measurements were performed in the morning or in the afternoon (daytime measurement) and in the evening (night-time measurement), with 1-min intervals between measurements, totalling six measurements per day. HBPM was defined for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) values. HBPM was evaluated in 40 patients (26 boys), mean age of 12.1 years (4-18 years). SBP and DBP records were analysed. The mean differences between average HBP and doctor's office BP were 0.6+/-14 and 4+/-13 mm Hg for SBP and DBP, respectively. Average systolic HBPM (daytime and night-time) did not differ from average office BP, and diastolic HBPM (daytime and night-time) was statistically lower than office BP. The comparison of individual BP measurements along the study period (13 days) by s.d. of differences shows a significant decline only for DBP values from day 5, on which difference tends to disappear towards the end of the study. Mean daytime and night-time SBP and DBP values remained stable throughout the study period, confirming HBPM as an acceptable methodology for BP evaluation in hypertensive children and adolescents.
