PURPOSE: Buckwheat allergy is one of the most severe types of food allergy in some countries, especially among children. However, few studies have investigated this condition. The aim of this study was to report the clinical and laboratory findings in Korean children with buckwheat allergy. METHODS: Thirty-seven subjects, aged 1 to 14 years, were enrolled by retrospective medical record review from January 2000 through May 2015 at the Department of Pediatrics in Ajou University Hospital. The demographic profile, previous exposure to buckwheat pillows, clinical symptoms, and laboratory findings of each subject were recorded. RESULTS: Twenty-six of the 37 children had immediate-type allergic symptoms to buckwheat, while 11 subjects were tolerant to buckwheat. Seventeen out of 26 buckwheat allergic children (65.4%) had anaphylaxis. The median buckwheat specific IgE level in the buckwheat allergic group (7.71 kU(A)/L) was significantly higher (P<0.001) than in the buckwheat tolerant group (0.08 kU(A)/L) with an optimal cutoff value of 1.27 kU(A)/L (sensitivity 84.6%, specificity 100%). When adjusted for age, the difference between the 2 groups showed no statistical significance (P=0.063). In subjects who had anaphylaxis, buckwheat-specific IgE levels ranged from 0.37 to 100 kUA/L. CONCLUSION: Almost two-thirds of buckwheat-allergic children had anaphylaxis, and a wide-range of buckwheat specific IgE levels were observed in these children. Anaphylaxis occurred in a subject with a remarkably low IgE level (0.37 kU(A)/L).
Anaphylaxis ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; Fagopyrum* ; Food Hypersensitivity ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity* ; Immunoglobulin E ; Medical Records ; Pediatrics ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tertiary Care Centers*

Idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis (IPH) is a rare respiratory disease with an unknown etiology, and is diagnosed with laboratory, radiology, and pathology tests. Chief complaints of IPH include hemoptysis, cough, and dyspnea. Since it is considered an immune-mediated disease, the first line of treatment is systemic corticosteroid therapy. The three cases reported here showed a decrease in ferritin level and improvement in the hemoglobin level with prednisolone treatment. However, long-term corticosteroid therapy may cause several side effects, particularly growth retardation and obesity, which can affect growing children. In the present study, all patients had cushingoid symptoms and obesity. Therefore, we switched to deflazacort (DFZ), which has lesser side-effects of weight gain. This report describes clinical courses of the disease and comparison of body mass index of three patients with IPH who took DFZ instead of prednisolone. DFZ was effective for IPH, and is useful for weight gain reduction.
Body Mass Index ; Child ; Cough ; Dyspnea ; Ferritins ; Hemoptysis ; Hemosiderosis ; Humans ; Obesity ; Pathology ; Prednisolone ; Weight Gain