Study of Relationship of Serum and Tissue Eosinophilia in Patients with Allergy

Introduction and Aim: In ENT clinical practice, allergy is a common presentation. Allergic rhinitis is an Ig E- mediated allergic reaction and cause of inflammatory reaction often associated with adenotonsillar disease, sinusitis. Methods: In the Department of ENT, patients between 5-60 years of age presenting with or without symptoms of allergy and diagnosed with adenoid adenotonsillar hypertrophy, turbinate hypertrophy, nasal polyp, undergoing surgery had clinical and laboratory assessment, primarily consisting of serum IgE, AEC, DNE, tissue eosinophil count. Then relationship of serum eosinophilia and tissue eosinophilia analyzed in patients with and without allergy. Results: In patients, aged between 5-60 years included during the study period, High serum IgE levels are seen in 27.5 of the people without allergy and is higher i.e. 51.0 among people with allergy, which is statistically important (p0.02). Tissue eosinophilia was high overall is 22.5 among patients with no allergy, 51 in patients with allergy, this is statistically significant (p0.01). Among individuals with normal serum IgE levels, 41.5 had high tissue eosinophil counts, while among those with high serum IgE levels, 69.4 had high tissue eosinophil counts so this difference in proportion is statistically significant. There is positive association of Serum IgE, AEC and tissue eosinophilia with individuals with history of allergy. Association of AEC with serum IgE, Serum IgE with tissue eosinophilia and Tissue eosinophilia with AEC are not statistically significant. Conclusion: In our study, proportion of people with high Serum IgE, high AEC and high tissue eosinophilia is higher among those who have history of allergy as compared to non-allergic people. No significant association was found between high tissue eosinophilia and blood parameters (Serum IgE and AEC). So, tissue eosinophilia has to be assessed for all patients irrespective of Serum IgE and AEC estimates.