Report of the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy

The Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy was held from September 10 through 12, 1992, at the Ramada Renaissance Tech-World, Washington, DC. Thirty-two papers, two panels, and 30 instruction courses were presented. The role of the mast cell was reviewed by Baltazar R. Espiritu, MD, in a comprehensive expansion on the physiology of inflammation. While originally thought by allergists to be primarily the source of histamine in allergic rhinitis and asthma, the mast cell cytokines play a part in perpetuation of inflammation, angiogenesis, fibrosis and wound healing, cytotoxicity, immunoregulation, and delayed-hypersensitivity reactions. Using a novel topical antigen challenge test technique, F. M. Baroody, MD, and coworkers, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md, demonstrated that histamine release and airway resistance is increased ipsilaterally in response to unilateral challenge, while rhinorrhea and mucous secretion increase bilaterally. Although premedication with an antihistamine (terfenadine, a histamine 1 antagonist)