Abstract

Objective: Recurrent infection, one of the most important reasons for hospital presentation among children, is a clinical condition that should be considered carefully and assessed in detail. We aimed to identify primary immune deficiencies and other causes of recurrent infection in cases presenting to the immunology outpatient clinic with a history of recurrent infection.

Material and Methods: The records of children who were referred to our immunology outpatient clinic with recurrent infection were reviewed in a retrospective manner. Cigarette exposure, gastroesophageal reflux, adenoid vegetation, atopy in the family or the patient, and the presence of chronic illness were queried in all patients as risk factors.

Results: Of the cases included, 40% (n=52) were girls whereas 60% (n=78) were boys. Consanguinity was present in 15.3% (n=20), a positive family history for primary immunodeficiency in 10.7% (n=14), and a positive family history of atopy in 26.1% (n=34). In the study population, the age ranged from 2 to 193 months. A history of >8 upper respiratory tract infections per year was present in 94.6% (n=123), ≥2 lower respiratory tract infections per year in 15.4% (n=20), ≥2 sinusitis episodes per year in 13.8% (n=18) and ≥2 otitis media episodes per year in 14.6% (n=19).Of the cases, there was a history of hospitalization due to infection in 26.1% (n=34). Again, there was history of atopy in 30% (n=39), adenoid vegetation in 7.6% (n=10), and gastroesophageal reflux in 15.3% (n=20) of the patients. Of the patients, 11.5% was diagnosed as primary immune deficiency while no reason was found for recurrent infection in 35.6% (n=46). Selective IgA deficiency was the most common primary immunodeficiency (n=8; 6.1%) detected in the study population. When patients with ≥2 risk factors were compared to those with <2 risk factors, statistically significant differences were found regarding infections other than upper respiratory tract infections and a history of hospitalization (p<0.001).

Conclusion: In children with recurrent infections, the underlying risk factors can be identified by taking a detailed history, physical examination and primary laboratory evaluations. Timely diagnosis of potential primary immunodeficiency diseases can be possible in this manner.

Keywords: Birincil immün yetmezlik, Risk faktörleri

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Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Cansever M. Retrospective Review of Patients Presenting to the Immunology Outpatient Clinic with Recurrent Infections. Turk J Pediatr Dis. 2020;14(1):22-27. https://doi.org/10.12956/tjpd.2018.392