ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF ALLERGIC DISORDERS

Electroencephalograms were recorded and psychiatric examinations performed in a group of 275 random-selected patients, 121 male and 154 female, with various allergic diseases; the mean age was 34.3 years. The frequency of EEG abnormalities was in the patients, much and significantly (p < 0.01) higher (43.27%) than in the controls and in the Polish general population. Over 50% of the abnormal records concerned the temporal region and over 80% showed a sporadic character of the changes and their activation by hyperventilation. The patients were divided into three subgroups: (a) atopic allergies, (b) allergic contact dermatitis, and (c) classical allergic diseases involving non-immunological mechanisms. The three subgroups did not differ in the frequency of abnormal EEG records. Neurosis were found in 49 patients (17.81%), most frequently in cases of vasomotor rhinitis (34.37%) and least so in allergic contact dermatitis (8.82%). © 1979.