Fatal fungal endocarditis in a patient with primary antibody deficiency

Pathogens have well recognised patterns of infections but these rules are often violated in immunocompromised hosts leading to infections by atypical organisms at unexpected sites. While many of the immunodeficiency syndromes could be pinpointed to the molecular level such as X linked agammaglobulinaemia, chronic granulomatous disease and activated PI3K syndrome,1 common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) represents a complex clinical syndrome with heterogeneity at the molecular, immunological and clinical levels.2 As a result of hypogammaglobulinaemia, recurrent infections with encapsulated organisms such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis are most common in CVID. In 2009, Malphettes et al3 defined a subgroup of patients with CVID with opportunistic infections and CD4 T cell lymphopenia as late-onset combined immune deficiency (LOCID). Currently, it is unclear if LOCID represents an extreme of the continuum of the antibody deficiency spectrum or is an isolated clinical entity. Here, we...
Source: Journal of Clinical Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: PostScript Source Type: research