[Behavior of serum IgE in patients with atopic extrinisic asthma. Studies with a modified radioimmunologic sorbent...

Serum IgE levels were measured by radioimmunosorbent techniqueera from patients with atopic extrinsic asthma, from patients with chronic bronchitis and from healthy adults. 51 of 65 patients with atopic extrinsic asthma had IgE values above the mean normal. Patients who were hypersensitive to different allergens commonly showed higher IgE concentrations than those who were hypersensitive to a single allergen only. Compared with IgE values found in patients with chronic bronchitis the differences were statistically highly significant. However the measurement of serum IgE may be a valuable diagnostic tool but only in supplement to other clinical investigations.