Diagnosis and Treatment of Antibody Deficiency Syndromes

Abstract

Antibody deficiency syndromes include congenital agammaglobulinemia, acquired agammaglobulinemia, and hereditary thymic dysplasia. Infants with the congenital type usually are well for the first nine months, but pyogenic infections then develop. The acquired type may be primary disease or secondary to lymphomas. Thymic dysplasia occurs in infants and is characterized by persistent lymphopenia, failure to thrive, and recurrent bacterial and viral infections.