ISSN:
1398-9995
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Background: Antihistamines are the most commonly prescribed class of medication for perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR). The primary objective of this study was to determine whether levocetirizine (Xyzal®), the active enantiomer of cetirizine, could achieve at least a 50% improvement in PAR symptoms compared to the placebo over the first week of treatment.Methods: A total of 294 patients with PAR due to house dust mites were randomized in this 8-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial to receive either levocetirizine 5 mg/day or placebo. Mean Total Four-Symptom Scores (T4SS) (nasal pruritus, ocular pruritus, rhinorrhoea and sneezing) were compared between treatment groups over weeks 1, 4 and 6. All individual symptom scores, including nasal congestion, were also studied.Results: Levocetirizine showed an 86% improvement in T4SS over the first week of treatment and a 47% improvement over the entire treatment period compared with placebo. Absolute changes from baseline were 3.64 and 2.47 for levocetirizine and placebo, respectively. Individual symptom scores showed statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01) differences in favour of levocetirizine for all study time-points. Nasal congestion was unexpectedly significantly improved (P 〈 0.001). The incidence of reported adverse events was comparable between treatment and placebo group.Conclusions: Levocetirizine 5 mg/day is an effective and well-tolerated treatment of PAR. In addition, levocetirizine is effective for the relief of nasal congestio.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1034/j.1398-9995.2003.00171.x
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