Studies in hypersensitiveness of the mucous membrane: V. Comparative studies of skin and ophthalmic reactions in hay fever patients presenting constitutional reactions

Abstract

1. 1. Forty treated cases of hay fever that developed constitutional reactions which were not the result of technical error, accident, or unusual dosage were studied. Comparative titrations of skin and conjunctival reactivity by a special technique revealed that a total of 50 per cent of these cases showed a reduced ratio of skin and conjunctival sensitivity. 2. 2. Of the sixteen cases that manifested repeated generalized reactions, 50 per cent revealed a reduced ratio. 3. 3. In a control group of twenty-four treated patients who developed no constitutional reactions, only 17 per cent showed a reduction in the ratio of sensitivity. 4. 4. As no evidence was disclosed to indicate that a diminished cutaneous reactivity was present in the constitutional group of cases, it seems likely that the reduced ratio was a result of an excessive hypersensitivity of the mucous membranes in these cases.