Clinical characteristics of Korean asthmatic patients who showed negative skin prick tests, but positive specific IgE tests for fungus

Abstract

Results In 16 patients (42.1%) with negative serum specific IgE tests for both fungi and HDM, total IgE ( 76.1 + 64.7 KU/L) was significantly lower than in 14(36.8%) patients with positive serum specific IgE tests for fungi (730.1 + 948.41 KU/L) and in 16 patients (42.1%). with positive serum specific IgE tests for HDM (783.5 + 854.1 KU/L), respectively. In patients with negative serum specific IgE tests for both fungi and HDM, FEV1 % predicted (95.9 + 19.2 %) was significantly higher than in patients with positive serum specific IgE tests for fungi (75.5 + 24.2 % )and in patients with positive serum specific IgE tests for HDM (76.7 + 27.3 % ), respectively. In patients with negative serum specific IgE tests for both fungi and HDM, PC20 (2.61 + 1.32 mg/ml) was significantly higher than in patients with positive serum specific IgE tests for fungi (2.23 + 2.05 mg/ml) and in patients with positive serum specific IgE tests for HDM (1.34 + 1.12 mg/ml), respectively.