[In vitro study as a screening test for inhalation allergy (Phadiatop)]

To investigate the question as to a possible allergic cause of disease of the airways, a new laboratory method has now become available (Phadiatop, Pharmacia Freiburg im Breisgau), which enables the physician who is not a specialist in allergology, to obtain initial orientation on the presence of an IgE-mediated allergic condition affecting the airways. The procedure is capable of identifying allergen-specific antibodies against ten different inhalation allergens, simultaneously and undifferentiated. It is available either as a radioimmunoassay or an enzyme immunoassay.