Histamine threshold and nasal hyperreactivity in non specific allergic rhinopathy

The authors studied the histamine threshold (endpoint concentration for a 100% pressure gradient increase at a flow of 0.25 liter/second) in a group of 29 patients suffering from non specific allergic rhinopathy and a control group of 15 normal subjects. The result of the nasal challenge was measured with two different methods of rhinomanometry: the passive anterior rhinomanometry (P.A.R.) and the active anterior rhinomanometry (A.A.R.). There existed a slightly significant difference (P less than or equal to 0.05) in histamine threshold between the patient and the control group. The 21 in duplo performed histamine challenges showed the very good reproducebility of the method. Finally, the A.A.R. method turned out to be slightly more sensitive than the P.A.R.-method.