PURPOSE: To study the response to skin prick tests in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and compare with the allergic population without ocular disease. METHODS: We performed skin prick tests in 48 patients with VKC (10 with limbal form, 19 with palpebral and 19 with both). Controls were 52 patients from Allergy Clinic of the Santa Casa de São Paulo, with systemic allergy but without ocular disease. Skin prick tests were performed in 48 patients from the Ocular Allergy Sector at the Ophthalmology Department of the Santa Casa de São Paulo's Hospital, from July 2001 to September 2002. We studied responses to the following allergens: house dust mite, Dermatophagoides pteronissynus, Dermatophagoides farinae, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, Blomia tropicalis, Rhizopus spp, Penicilium, Alternaria alternata and rye grass. RESULTS: Male sex was the most frequent, with 32 patients (66.6%) in the study group, and 27 (51.9%) in controls. Mean age was 10.0 ± 4.7 years in the study group and 6.83 ± 3.6 in controls. The most frequent allergen was Dermatophagoides pteronissynus, followed by Dermatophagoides farinae, Blomia tropicalis, house dust mite, Tyrophagus putrescentiae and Rhizopus spp. CONCLUSIONS: The resemblance of the results in the control group indicates that allergic conjunctivitis is nothing else but another form of atopy, just as rhinitis, bronchitis and dermatitis.
Conjunctivitis, allergic; Allergens; Cornea; Cornea; Differential diagnosis; Skin tests
