[IgA deficiency in pediatrics].
To evaluate the IgA deficiency we have considered 368 children, admitted to "Day hospital" for different pathologies: 64 of them had serum IgA levels lower than the normal values for their age according to Ellis and Robbin. The age of the children with this deficiency was included from 4 months up to 8 years: 39 were boys, 25 were girls. In 54 cases the IgA deficiency was "partial" that is: the IgA value found out was lower than the normal for the age, but higher than 5 mg%. In 10 cases the IgA deficiency was "severe" (the IgA value was lower than 5 mg%). Six cases, among the 29 ones with intestinal diseases, had a severe deficiency, whereas among the 22 cases with respiratory diseases 3 had a "severe" deficiency. The 2 patients with urinary disease had a partial deficiency; only one case of the remaining 11 with different pathologies had a "severe" deficiency. Among the carriers of serum IgA deficiency an high incidence of chronic pathology has been found out (83%). Nevertheless the percentage of IgA deficiency extrapolated from the all case histories doesn't differ very much (64 cases among 368 = 17.39%) considering only those patients with chronic relapsing pathology (53 cases among 275 = 18.2%). Therefore it seems that the IgA deficiency could be considered a chronicizing factor in the examinated pathology even if in few cases. Anyway the frequency of IgA deficiency has reached major values (29/54; 45.3%) in the patients with enteric diseases. The frequency of IgA deficiency is smaller but still important in those patients with respiratory diseases (22/64: 34.3%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Paci
A
A
II Cattedra di Clinica Pediatrica, Università degli Studi, Pisa, Italia.
Crimaldi
G
G
Migliaccio
P
P
Orsolini
G
G
Bertini
M
M
Palmieri
P
P
Pisani
N
N
Vannucci
D
D
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004406:Dysgammaglobulinemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017098:IgA Deficiency; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012737:Sex Factors
Deficit di IgA in pediatria.