Beneficial Effects of Treatment With Anti-IgE Antibodies (Omalizumab) in a Patient With Severe Asthma and Negative Skin-Prick Test Results

It is now well recognized that treatment with anti-IgE antibodies like omalizumab is a valuable option in patients with allergic asthma who remain symptomatic despite optimal treatment. To our knowledge, treatment with omalizumab in patients with nonallergic asthma has not been reported. We present and discuss a patient with severe asthma and elevated total IgE who had a negative radioallergosorbent (RAST) test result and a negative skin-prick test result; the patient showed a dramatic improvement with this treatment strategy. CHEST 2011; 139(1):190-193