Relationship between the results of skin, conjunctival and bronchial tests and RAST with Candida albicans in patients with asthma.

The results of the skin, conjunctival and inhalation tests and RAST with Candida antigen were compared with each other in patients with bronchial asthma. The correlation coefficient between the skin test and RAST was 0.50 (P less than 0.01). The correlation coefficient between the skin test, RAST and the inhalation tests was 0.36 (P less than 0.01) and 0.57 (P less than 0.01). The positive agreement of the inhalation test to the skin test, RAST and the conjunctival test was 77, 86 and 93% respectively. In this study the conjunctival test was thought to be the best method in place of the inhalation test. There was no significant relation between the serum IgE concentration and the endpoint of the skin titration testing, and a low correlation was noticed between the serum IgE concentration and RAST counts (r = 0.36).