[Value of eosinopenia in inflammatory disorders: an "old" marker revisited].
OBJECTIVE
The value of eosinopenia as a test in favour of an infectious disease was suggested by Schilling since 1929. We tried to verify this hypothesis with a prospective and multicentric study.


METHODS
One thousand and thirty-eight patients were included (82 females and 56 males, means age: 71.8 years). Diagnoses were: 83 infectious diseases, 38 systemic diseases, 10 neoplasia and 7 miscellaneous.


RESULTS
The mean value of eosinophils was 72/mm3 in bacterial infectious diseases and 214/mm3 in non infectious diseases (p < 0.01). When leukocytes were higher than 10,000/mm3 and eosinophils counts less than 40/mm3, predictive value for an infectious bacterial disease was 100% as well as specificity. Under same conditions, when protein C reactive was higher than 100mg x l(-1), the predictive value was 85% and the specificity was 57%.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that an inflammatory syndrome associated with hyperleucocytosis above 10,000/mm3 and eosinophils counts under 40/mm3 seems strongly related to bacterial infectious diseases.
Gil
H
H
Service de médecine interne, praticien hospitalier, centre hospitalier universitaire Jean-Minjoz, 25000, Besançon, France. hgil@chu-besancon.fr <hgil@chu-besancon.fr>
Magy
N
N
Mauny
F
F
Dupond
J-L
JL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D004804:Eosinophils; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013577:Syndrome
D015415:Biomarkers