[Clinical aspects of hypereosinophilia syndrome]

To assess clinical peculiarities of hypereosinophilia (HEP), determine approaches to treatment and differential diagnosis of the disease, we examined 115 patients in 1969-2002. We made clinical, laboratory and virusological tests with detection of markers of hepatitis B and C viruses, biopsy of the liver (n = 3), on demand echocardiography, indirect immunofluoresence and enzyme immunoassay of the serum for antibodies to neutrophil cytoplasm in some patients. We grouped patients by the presence of Churg-Strauss syndrome (n = 70), an asthmatic variant of nodular polyarteritis (n = 22), hypereosinophilic syndrome (Loffler 11, n = 15) and eosinophilic pulmonary infiltrates (n = 8). Asthmatic nodular polyarteritis was characterized by high arterial hypertension, frequent finding of HBV, aneurysms and infarctions of the viscera. Bronchial asthma and medicines intolerance were absent, though cardiac failure and other cardiac pathology is frequent. Thus, definition of 4 clinical groups of patients with HEP allows a differential approach to the disease treatment and prognosis.