Evaluation of pulmonary complications in patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders

Background. Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) are inherited disorders in which one or several components of immune system are defected. Moreover, affected patients are at high risk for developing recurrent infections, particularly pulmonary infections. The spectrum of pulmonary manifestations in PIDs is broad, and includes acute and chronic infection, structural abnormalities (eg, bronchiectasis), malignancy and dysregulated inflammation resulting in tissue damage. In this study, our aims are to evaluate pulmonary complications in PID patients. Patients and Methods. We studied 204 cases with confirmed PID. To evaluate pulmonary complications in these patients, we used pulmonary function test (PFT), high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Results. Our results showed that pneumonia was the most frequent clinical manifestations in all PID patients. There were significantly greater numbers of episodes of pneumonia in HIgM, XLA and CVID patients with delayed diagnoses < 6 years. Moreover, of 57.4% CVID patients, 55% XLA patients and 33.3% HIgM patients had abnormal PFT results, and bronchiectasis was showed in 9 (42.9%) of XLA, 6 (11.8%) of HIES, 3 (21.4%) of HIgM and 38 (62.3%) of CVID patients. Conclusion. Pulmonary complications should be considered in cases with PIDs especially in CVID cases.