Background: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has become applicable to insurance for children in Japan in 2018. However, as for the efficacy of SLIT for children, objective evaluation methods have not been sufficiently investigated.
Subjects and methods: We investigated the efficacy of SLIT as both subjective and objective evaluation in 44 children with allergic rhinitis sensitized to house dust mite who started the treatment in the summer of 2018 in our hospital. The children and their patients wrote the allergy diary every day, and in winter/spring/summer vacations, they answered Japanese allergic rhinitis quality of life standard questionnaire and were evaluated with nasal provocation test, blood test, rhinomanometry for 3 years.
Results: 29 (66%) of the 44 children continued SLIT for 3 years. Symptom scores, QOL scores, symptom medication scores halved in a year and the effect lasted in the second and third year. Nasal provocation test and rhinomanometry showed significant improvement. Specific IgE increased transiently and then decreased. Specific IgG4 increased annually.
Conclusion: The present study showed a decrease in scores not only for subjective assessments but also for objective evaluation methods, the house dust nasal provocation test and the nasal airway resistance.
Keywords: allergen immunotherapy; objective evaluation; pediatric allergic rhinitis; response to house dust mite; sublingual immunotherapy.