Predictability of early atopy by cord blood-IgE and parental history.

Summary Background Atopic family history and cord blood IgE have been used as predictors of atopic disease in newborns for about 20 years, but at least for cord blood IgE the sensitivity has been shown to be very low. The objective of this paper was to evaluate whether parental history and cord blood-IgE were more accurate predictors for the appropriate atopic phenotypes in the infants rather than for any atopy. Methods A total of 1314 newborn infants was recruited in six German obstetric departments in 1990 and followed-up for 2 years. Four hundred and ninty-ninc (38%) were at high risk for atopy with at least two first degree atopic family members and/or elevated cord-blood IgE concentrat…