[Antibody deficiency in obstructive lung diseases]

Severe chronic chest disease is the most serious complication in patients with antibody deficiency syndromes. IgG-subclass-deficiencies were a frequent finding in patients with obstructive lung disease and in patients with sinopulmonary infections. In the patient population referred to us for immunological investigation recurrent infection of the upper and lower respiratory tract was the most common reason to suspect undue susceptibility to infection. In 1034 pediatric patients analyzed 299 were found to be deficient in one of several IgG subclasses. In a group of 30 children, all of whom had severe lung disease and normal concentrations of serum IgG, IgA and IgM, airway-obstruction has been diagnosed in 19. 20 of the 30 patients had IgG-subclass-deficiency. The large percentage of IgG-subclass-deficiencies in this group of patients indicates that immunological disregulation is likely to contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic lung disease.