[Cough variant asthma improving with avoidance of pet rabbit].

The concept of cough variant asthma (CVA) has been defined recently, but little is known about the relation between CVA and antigen. A case of CVA due to per rabbit was presented here. A 49-year-old man who kept a pet rabbit indoors was admitted our hospital with nocturnal dry cough. Both serum total IgE level and eosinophil count were elevated (IgE 5580 IU/L. Eosinophil 1183/L). According to Sato's criteria, this case was diagnosed to be CVA. After the patient was kept out of contact with the rabbit, his coughing disappeared and never recurred and IgE (RAST) against rabbit decreased. The out come of this case clearly shows that CVA improved due to avoidance of the antigen. These facts suggest that the cause of CVA in this case in due to mainly an immunoglobulin E-mediated allergic reaction.