Comparison of MAST Chemiluminescent Assay(MAST-CLA) with Skin Prick, Test in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Lee, In Wook; Kim, Tae Hyun; Ahn, Sung Ku; Choi, Eung Ho

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Allergic reactions are known to be associated with symptomatic aggravation of atopic dermatitis. Skin prick tests were used as a routine in vivo screening test for the evaluation of allergic patients. Many tests to detect specific IgE antibody including RAST, FAST and MAST chemilu-minescent assay (MAST-C~LA) were also used. Previous studies revealed that the results of skin prick tests and MAST-CLA were well correlated in patients with asthma, allergic rhinitis and urticaria.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MAST-CLA compared with skin prick tests in patients with atopic dermatitis.
METHODS
We performed the chemiluminescent assay with 35 allergens and skin prick tests with 23 allergens common with allergens used in MAST-CLA in 34 patients with atopic dermatitis. The positive reaction rate of allergens in each test and sensitivity, specificity, efficiency, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of MAST-CLA to the skin prick test were evaluated and MAST net volts of serum total IgE was compared with PRIST.