[Circulating and basophil-fixed specific IgE in human alveolar echinococcosis].

Biological parameters of immediate type hypersensitivity were assessed in 19 patients with alveolar echinococcosis. Serum total IgE concentrations were higher than normal values in 12 patients, and parasite-specific IgE were present in 9 patients. A significant relationship was observed between these two parameters. Evolution of specific IgE during a 1-year period appeared to correlate with surgical removal of parasitic material; it did not correlate with the clinical evolution in patients treated with mebendazole. Specific basophil fixed-IgE were demonstrated using both a basophil degranulation test and a histamine release test in the 19 patients under study, including serologically negative and circulating specific IgE-negative patients.