title: [Value of eosinopenia in inflammatory disorders: an "old" marker revisited].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Service de médecine interne, praticien hospitalier, centre hospitalier universitaire Jean-Minjoz, 25000, Besançon, France. hgil@chu-besancon.fr <hgil@chu-besancon.fr>
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gil
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magy
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mauny
authors.forename: J-L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Dupond
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers