« Previous Next »The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 123, Issue 3 , Pages 665-671.e6, March 2009

Quantitative assessment of allergic shiners in children with allergic rhinitis

Chien-Han Chen, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Pediatrics, Min-Sheng General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Yu-Tsan Lin, MD, PhD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
Che-Yen Wen, PhD
- Department of Forensic Science, National Central Police University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Li-Chieh Wang, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
Kuo-Hung Lin, MS
- Department of Polymer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Shih-Hsuan Chiu, PhD
- Department of Polymer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Yao-Hsu Yang, MD, PhD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
Jyh-Hong Lee, MD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
Bor-Luen Chiang, MD, PhD
- Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
- Reprint requests: Bor-Luen Chiang, MD, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Received 10 June 2008; received in revised form 9 December 2008; accepted 15 December 2008.

Background

The knowledge on allergic shiners is extremely limited. A conceivable tool able to quantify allergic shiners has not been established.

Objectives

We sought to determine the significance and changeability of allergic shiners through our newly developed computerized method.

Methods

We developed a novel computerized method to measure allergic shiners and enrolled a cohort of children with or without allergic rhinitis. Children with allergic rhinitis were prospectively assessed. A standardized digital photograph was taken during each visit, and a modified Pediatric Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire was completed. Subject global assessment for nose symptoms and subject global assessment for eye symptoms (SGAE) were self-recorded daily.

Results

We included 126 children with allergic rhinitis and 123 healthy control subjects. One hundred three (82%) participants with allergic rhinitis completed at least 4 prospective assessments. Shiners were darker (P < .001) and larger (P < .001) in children with allergic rhinitis. Darkness and sizes of allergic shiners were paradoxically inversely correlated (P = .02). Darkness of allergic shiners positively correlated with the duration of allergic rhinitis, practical problem scores, and SGAE values (P = .02, P = .004, and P = .002, respectively), but sizes of allergic shiners did not. Shiners were found to be darker in children with scores of eye symptoms of greater than 6, scores of practical problems of greater than 5, and SGAE values of greater than 0 (P = .02, P < .001, and P = .003, respectively), whereas shiners were larger in children with scores of other symptoms of greater than 9 and activity limitations of greater than 4 (P = .02 and P = .002, respectively).