Cord blood IgE and atopic family history have been used as predictors of atopic disease in infants for more than 20 years. In recent years, the value of cord blood IgE in predicting the development of atopic dermatitis has been questioned, while family history of atopy has consistently been regarded as a useful predictor for atopic dermatitis. A birth cohort was followed-up to 6 months of age to record the development of atopic dermatitis and to study its association with cord blood IgE levels and parental history of atopy. The cumulative incidence of atopic dermatitis over the 1st, 3rd and 6th months of life amounted to 5.0%, 8.2% and 14.0%, respectively. When the cutoff value for cord blood IgE was set at 0.5 kU/L, there was a significant association between elevated cord blood IgE level and atopic dermatitis at 1, 3 and 6 months of age; when the cutoff value was set at 0.9 kU/L, the association was only found at 3 months of age. There was a significant association with atopic history of the mother. The effect of maternal atopic history on atopic dermatitis seen only at 1 month was lost by 3 months of age. There was no correlation between paternal history and atopic dermatitis. In our study, the predictive capacity of maternal history and cord blood IgE was not high enough to recommend them as screening factors.
