Laboratory tests
The laboratory tests are the necessary part of the diagnosis procedure, in the case that the previous examinations were not sufficient for the unambiguous conclusion. The important restriction of these tests is the fact that the patient’s allergic reaction includes different cells in different tissues of the high degree of the variability. Even in the case of the same patient the ability to react can change in a short period of time. For the sake of the laboratory examination the blood is necessary. The blood collecting is usually made in the morning. If we undergo the blood collecting, we will have to take into consideration that it will contain the small amount of the elements, which are influences by the food we have eaten. Hence the blood collecting should be undertaken not only on an empty stomach, but even in during the last evening before the collecting, the patients do not have to eat a fair amount of the fatty meals.
The leukocyte differential calculus belongs to the basic laboratory examination. The medical finding of the eosinophilia is typical as for the allergic patients. To the standard examinations belongs the total IgE level examination. The values above 100 IU/ml state the allergic reaction (illness). A reliable source of information is provided in the newborn umbilical cord examination, where the higher level above 10IU/ml reflects the higher risk of the allergic illness during the life.
The specific examination, which proves the allergy and analyses the initialising allergen, is the specific IgE antibodies examination. Here, the antibodies, which react against the particular allergen, are looked for and determined.
All the IgE determining methods are demanding and require special devices, hence are made only in bigger centres. They are not made to all patients. They are needed in cases, when the previous examinations did not prove the clear diagnosis. Moreover, even more simple methods using the testing slips of paper similar to the litmus paper are used in order to diagnose the IgE antibodies quantitatively.
Before the allergist examination all allergic patients should have examined the basic biochemical parameters, which are necessary for the therapeutic preparations. When needed, if we suspect the nasal cavity inflammation or the asthma, sometimes the X-ray examination is made. The X-ray pictures of the head, eventually of the lungs, where inflammation changes can be observed, are judged. The lungs and nose function is judged through the spirometric examination.
Tags: allergic pacient, Allergy, laboratory test, leukocyte, skin test