USE OF THE EXTENDED PHADEBAS RAST PANEL IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF MOLD ALLERGY IN ASTHMATIC-CHILDREN

The clinical significance of mould allergens in Phadebas RAST(R) panel was investigated in 121 asthmatic children. They were selected from a total population of 1649 patients. The patients were distributed into four groups, based on the combination of positive or negative skin prick tests (SPT) together with symptoms suggestive or not of mould sensitivity. Mould-specific IgE antibodies were investigated using the original RAST panel (Alternaria, Aspergillus, Candida, Cladosporium, Mucor and Penicillium) and a set of 10 additional mould-allergen discs (Aureobasidium, Botrytis, Curvularia, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Helminthosporium, Phoma, Rhizopus, Stemphylium and Trichoderma). The set of additional RAST discs revealed patients with mould-reaginic antibodies not found with the original RAST panel. This occurred in four of 49 (8.2%) RAST positive (class greater-than-or-equal-to 2) patients. The allergens most frequently positive were Cladosporium (in 28% of the patients), Candida (28%) and Helminthosporium (26%). A remarkable degree of simultaneous reactivity to almost all moulds tested was observed. Patients with multiple (greater-than-or-equal-to 7) mould sensitization were effectively pinpointed using any duplicate combination of Aureobasidium, Botrytis, Candida, Cladosporium, Helminthosporium, Penicillium and Stemphylium.