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Diagnostic tests for Food Allergy

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Conclusion

Currently, the diagnosis of food allergy is based predominantly on clinical grounds. The medical history often provides valuable clues and occasionally definitive information on the offending food. Additional screening tests applicable to clinical practice include trials of elimination diets, a food/symptom diary, skin testing, and serum IgE antibody determination. Certain other tests may be impractical, highly unreliable, or available only in specialized laboratories and used mostly for research. Ahighly reliable diagnostic laboratory test for food allergy is yet to be developed.

All foods suspected by any of the aforementioned methods of causing the patient’s symptoms should be subjected to verification by a supervised elimination-challenge test. Ideally, the latter would be done without the patient knowing whether or not he or she is ingesting the suspected food, giving the suspected food in a disguised form randomly matched with an appropriate placebo. This method is particularly important whenever a psychologic component might be involved or the symptoms are subjective. In addition to watching for the appearance of symptoms and clinical signs, the clinician should use relevant laboratory tests whenever applicable and appropriate. When the elimination-challenge test gives an equivocal result, it should be repeated.

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  1. Department of Allergy and Immunology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation A-72, 9500 Euclid Avenue, 44195, Cleveland, OH

    Sami L. Bahna

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Bahna, S.L. Diagnostic tests for Food Allergy. Clinical Reviews in Allergy 6, 259–284 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02915036

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