title: Beware the lymphopenia: a case of severe combined immunodeficiency.
abstract: We present a case of a 2-month-old boy with partially treated meningitis and suspected Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. A full blood count revealed profound lymphopenia. The child was diagnosed with adenosine deaminase deficiency, a rare cause of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). SCID is an immunological emergency and must be considered in any lymphopaenic infant with opportunistic infection. We discuss adenosine deaminase-deficient SCID, which can involve multiple systems and in which other treatment options apart from bone marrow transplant are available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Immunology, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. samm@chw.edu.au
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehr
authors.forename: Alyson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakakios
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kemp
mesh_terms: D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008231:Lymphopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D016511:Severe Combined Immunodeficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome