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my personal edition > rhinitis > news
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DGDispatch
Desloratadine Proves Safe and Effective for Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis in Everyday Practice: Presented at AAAAI
By Em Brown, BSN
PHILADELPHIA -- March 18, 2008 -- Positive results of clinical trials with desloratadine have translated into good outcomes in everyday practice for treatment of allergic rhinitis, according to results presented here at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting.
Lajos Kósa, MD, Allergist, Svabhegy National Clinic for Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary, led an open-label investigation of desloratadine to determine whether positive large-scale, placebo-controlled trial results would carry over into an everyday practice setting.
Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common chronic conditions in the general population and poses a sizeable symptom burden on patients that can impair quality of life and skills performance. A hallmark symptom of allergic rhinitis is nasal congestion, which is often the most difficult symptom to treat.
Dr. Kósa evaluated the effect of desloratadine 5 mg once daily for 14 days on nasal symptoms, including congestion, in subjects with seasonal allergic rhinitis in a multicenter, open-label, noncomparative study of 342 patients with at least a 2-year history of recurring seasonal allergic rhinitis.
Desloratadine once daily administered for 14 days was associated with a significant decrease in all individual and total symptom scores from baseline (P < .01). Symptom severity score for nasal congestion declined by 69% from baseline, while the nasal itch score declined by 78%.
At baseline, mean total symptom score was 78% of the maximum possible score, and declined to 21% during desloratadine therapy. At the final visit, 38% of patients were free of symptoms.
Complete relief was achieved in 46% of patients, marked relief in 26%, moderate relief in 12%, and slight relief in 7% of subjects. Treatment with desloratadine failed in 9% of patients. Dr. Kósa said the study demonstrated an 84% complete, marked, or moderate relief rate of allergic rhinitis symptoms.
Adverse effects were reported by 8% of patients, but most were mild to moderate in severity. No serious adverse effects were reported.
In a presentation on March 16, Dr. Kósa remarked that his study's findings confirm the efficacy and safety seen with desloratadine in placebo-controlled trials.
[Presentation title: An Open-Label Study Confirms Desloratadine Efficacy in Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis. Abstract 198]
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