An evaluation of childhood rhinorrhea.

The differences in children with allergic and nonallergic rhinitis were reviewed. Thirty-two patients were studied prospectively. Ten patients were diagnosed as having allergic rhinitis (AR) on the basis of history correlating with RAST's and elevated IgE for age. Twenty-two patients had no evidence of atopy as a cause for their rhinorrhea and were classified as having vasomotor rhinitis (VMR). In this group 10 patients demonstrated eosinophilic nonallergic rhinitis (ENR). Responsiveness of the various group to medical therapy was noted. It was found that patients with AR and ENR are significantly more responsive to medical therapy than patients with VMR. The authors feel that there is a definite advantage in performing nasal cytology for determining eosinophilia in chronic childhood rhinorrhea.