A 17-year old male complains of recurrent episodes of cough, wheezing and shoness of breath paicularly at night for the last 3 days. His sibling has a history of similar symptoms. A Skin test with pollen produces immediate wheal and flare. The laboratory finding most consistent with his clinical findings would be
High-Yield Explanation
Atopy is the major risk factor for asthma.Patients with asthma commonly suffer from other atopic diseases,paicularly allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis.Eosinophilic infiltration of airways along with peripheral eosinophilia is a characteristic feature seen in asthmatic patients.There will also be elevated total serum IgE and specific IgE to inhaled allergens(radioallergosorbent test) in atopic asthma. Ref:Harrison's medicine-18th edition,page no:2109.