[Are there milder forms of the syndrome called hyper-IgE? Diagnostic problems. Apropos of 2 cases]

We present the observations of two boys eight and four years old whose the only clinical sign is a chronic otorrhea. We found many of usual features of the hyper IgE syndrome: raised total IgE (4000 to 8000 Ul/ml) and hypereosinophilia (1100 to 3800/mm3). We found a lowered proportion of CD8+ cells (suppressive or cytotoxic): 16 and 18% (normal values: 26 +/- 5%). The chemotaxis of polymorphonuclears is also lowered: 9.2 to 6.0 cells by microscopic field with FMLP presence (normal values 40 to 50). These two observations are compared with other literature cases where clinical picture is moderate, but biological signs very suggestive.