Immediate type
allergy to
latex is still a widespread problem.
Latex-allergic patients undergoing diagnostic and operative medical procedures are at risk of potentially life-threatening reactions. Accurate diagnostic methods are therefore crucial. The aim of this retrospective study was to discriminate between sensitization and relevant
allergy to
latex based on an easy and suitable diagnostic approach. In 14 patients with clinical symptoms and 27 controls,
latex skin prick tests (SPT),
IgE against
latex (CAP) and serological component resolved specific
latex-
allergen determination (Hev b1, b3, b5, b6, b7, b8, b9, b10, b11) based on ImmunoCAP ISAC were performed. SPT correlated very well with clinically manifest
latex-allergy demonstrating a high specificity (95%) (and a low sensitivity). However, CAP levels to crude
latex could not safely discriminate between purely sensitized and
latex-allergic patients. The majority of patients mono-sensitized to the
latex profilin Hev b8 did not suffer from any relevant symptoms upon contact with
latex. However, in two patients with
latex-allergy diagnosed by elevated specific
IgE only sensitized against Hev b8, additional sensitization to
carbohydrate cross-reactive determinants (CCD) was found. In the case of positive serum
IgE against
latex and negative SPT, component-resolved diagnosis including
IgE against specific
latex-
proteins, specially Hev b8, and
carbohydrate cross-reactive determinants (CCD) is a useful tool to discriminate between
latex-sensitization and
latex-allergy.