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Omalizumab decreased serum free IgE levels and provided clinical benefit in a dose-dependent fashion in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis.

The English version of the CFQ appears to be a linguistically valid measure of quality of life for patients with CF. A national validation study is now under way to test the psychometric properties of the measure.

Inconsistencies between published clinical significance scales and the professional judgments of practitioners could affect patient care to the degree that a summary measure of clinical significance affects a practitioner's response to a potential drug-drug interaction. The clinical significance scale developed in this study has good measurement characteristics and reflects the professional judgments of practicing pharmacists. Use of the new scale is recommended on these grounds, although further assessment of its generality is warranted.

The purpose of this article is to review the literature related to economic outcomes associated with treating allergic rhinitis. A literature review was conducted using 'Medline' and the in-house database of the publishers of this journal for articles published between January 1991 and January 1996. Only 3 cost-outcome analyses that compared alternative treatments for allergic rhinitis were found. Given the limited number of full economic evaluations, much of this article focuses on issues related to direct and indirect costs and outcome measures that should be considered when performing an economic evaluation of allergic rhinitis. We conclude that more comprehensive analyses using a wide array of costs and outcomes are needed. At present, it is not possible to draw general conclusions regarding the economic value of alternative treatments for allergic rhinitis.

Prolonged use of rhDNase may reduce costs of respiratory-related care in patients with cystic fibrosis; further study is required, however, to confirm these findings.

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