Allergy in otorhinolaryngology.

The authors discuss briefly the definition of allergy. Then step by step all the stages of a thorough allergic examination of patients with mainly ENT complaints are described with special emphasis on: history, ENT examination, routine laboratory tests (total eosinophil count, nasal smear, skin tests, RIST, RAST) and nose challenge tests. The results of these investigations allow the authors to propose a useful scheme in allergic diagnosis. Finally the therapeutic possibilities in allergic rhinopathy are discussed.