410 Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of Allergic Conjunctivitis Patients in a Reference Center of Mexico City

BACKGROUND: In our country (Mexico) there are few reports about epidemiological characteristics of allergic conjunctivitis patients; despite these studies give us some information about patient profile, in most cases these studies are not always comparable due to the use of different methodologies, that is, Include only a portion of the population (elderly, infants) or there are limited to one region of the city. The purpose of this study was to know the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of allergic conjunctivitis (AC)-patients in the biggest reference center of ocular diseases in Mexico (Institute of Ophthalmology “Conde de Valenciana”) METHODS: Data were obtained from clinical records. Six hundred fifteen patients with diagnosis of AC were included. Epidemiological characteristics included sex, age, residence; clinical-immunological characteristics included atopy, coexistence of other allergies, total IgE, cutaneous reactivity to skin prick test (SPT), sixty allergens were evaluated. Descriptive statistics were performed to obtain frequencies and t test was used to find significant differences, P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: AC-Patients who received medical consultation at the Institute of Ophthalmology where predominantly from State of Mexico (47.25%), Mexico City (37.5%), and in less frequency Hidalgo, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Michoacan, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas and Guanajuato. 88% of AC-patients were positive to SPT (SPT+), while 12% were negative to SPT (SPT-). Age of diagnosis was significant different between SPT-AC-patients and SPT+AC-patients (14.5-years vs 17.9-years, P = 0.02). Male SPT-AC-patients were diagnosed younger than male SPT+AC-patients (P = 0.001). IgE concentration was significant increased in male SPT+AC-patients than female SPT+AC-patients (P = 0.006). The most common skin reactivity was against Dermatophagoides sp (59.1%), Aedes sp(54.55%) and Blatella-Periplaneta sp.(31.14%); we did not observe significant differences in skin reactivity between male or female SPT+AC-patient. CONCLUSIONS: It was considered that AC-patients were negative to SPT; contrary to reported, this study showed that most of AC-patients were positive to some allergen; this result is relevant because open the possibility to offer specific desensitization as conventional treatment instead anti-histamine drugs in SPT+ population. This is the first study covering the central and southern part of our country.