Abstract
Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy (THI) is a heterogenous disorder characterized by reduced serum IgG levels in early infancy. A putative diagnosis is initially made after exclusion of other causes of hypogammaglobulinemia while a definitive diagnosis of THI can only be made a posteriori in patients with normalization of IgG levels. The aim of this study is to characterize clinical and immunological features of children with an initial diagnosis of THI in correlation to natural outcome, and to assess predictive laboratory parameters of clinical evolution for this disorder. We prospectively analysed clinical and immunological characteristics of 77 THI children at initial diagnosis and of 57 patients at follow-up. Memory B cell subsets and in vitro immunoglobulin production were evaluated. Seventy patients (91%) showed clinical symptoms. Patients suffered from infections (91%), allergies (47%) and autoimmune disease (4%). During follow-up 41/57 children (72%) normalized IgG values, mostly within 24 months of age (p
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 343-352 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2008 |
Keywords
- In vitro immunoglobulin production
- Memory B cell subsets
- Primary immunodeficiency
- Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmacology