[Inflammatory rheumatism in immunologic deficiencies]

The authors give a general review of rheumatic manifestations associated with immunodeficiency in children with reference to 7 personal observations. The review demonstrates the high frequency of this association, the variable clinical picture in one, a few, or many joints, the prolonged, relatively mild evolution that is never deforming or ankylosing, the existence of frequent auto-immune and rheumatic manifestations in families, and the usual but variable effectiveness of gammaglobulins. The possibility of immunodeficiency should be considered in cases of mono-, oligo-, and polyarthritis. The results of humoral and cellular immunological studies demonstrated a low level of immunoglobulins, the presence of nonfunctional B cells, and the presence of T cells that were probably qualitatively modified. A physiopathological interpretation is suggested.