[Histomorphology of BCG infections in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency]

Most inborn immunodeficiency syndromes clinically become overt by complicating infections, e.g. by BCG-infection after BCG-vaccination. The diagnostic approach often is hampered by an atypical histomorphological picture of the infection caused by the underlying immune defect. We examined biopsies of different organs in 18 infants with severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome and BCG-infection. A number of unusual histomorphological patterns of BCG-infection were found not yet published previously. There was a correlation between histomorphological features and immunological data or clinical course in most cases.