Persistence and progression of immunologic abnormalities in haemophilia

Immunologic parameters in 51 patients with haemophilia treated with cryoprecipitate from volunteer donors or with commercial lyophilized concentrate were studied on 2-7 occasions. Concentrate users had significantly decreased mean T4 (helper)/T8 (suppressor) lymphocyte ratios when the initial (1.5 +/- .43) and most recent (1.25 +/- .60) values were compared (p less than .001), whereas in cryoprecipitate users mean values remained normal. Of the 22 concentrate users with initially normal T4/T8 ratios, 10 became abnormal during the study, an incidence of 45%. Fifteen of 28 (54%) patients with abnormal T4/T8 ratios had elevated circulating immune complexes (CIC), whereas all 16 patients with normal T4/T8 ratios had normal levels of CIC. Six patients have persistent lymphadenopathy.