[Diagnosis and Treatment of 43 Patients with IgG4-related Disease]

To summarize the clinicopathological characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD).

The clinical data of 43 cases with IgG4-RD diagnosed from January 2013 to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical data of the patients including clinical characteristics, accessory examinations, diagnosis, and treatment were collected.

Among the 43 patients with IgG4-RD, the ratio of male to female was 3∶1, the mean age was (51.3±15.9) years. Eleven patients had gastrointestinal symptoms, including 5 cases of IgG4-related cholangitis with the feature of dilation of the biliary system and narrowing of the lumen in the abdominal enhanced CT scans, and 6 cases of IgG4-related autoimmune pancreatitis with the feature of pancreatic enlargement or soft tissue density shadow in the abdominal enhanced CT scans. There were 10 cases (23.3%) with periorbital involvement, with the feature of intraorbital soft tissue nodule in the CT scan. Besides, 9 cases (20.9%) had lymphadenopathy, 6 cases (14.0%) had fever. The results of autoimmune antibody tests showed that 14 of 42 patients had increased antinuclear antibody (ANA). Among 40 patients who underwent immunoglobulin tests, 25 cases had elevated IgG, 12 cases had increased IgA, and 29 cases had increased IgE. Coombs test were performed for 6 cases and 4 patients were positive. Serum immunoglobulin G4 subtypes showed that the IgG4 levels of 35 patients were higher than 1 350 mg/L. The immunohistochemistry showed that IgG4 (+) cells (3->500/HPF) were infiltrated, with the CD20 (+), CD3ε (+) or CD138 (+). Among the 43 patients, 5 patients underwent operations due to misdiagnosis. All patients were treated with steroid and immunosuppressive agents after diagnosis, and their clinical symptoms were improved.

The clinical symptoms of IgG4-RD are various, involving multiple organs. Therefore, the standardized diagnosis and treatment of IgG4-RD should be strengthened.