Shingles Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Shingles, including details on symptoms, treatment, causes, virus.

Critical aneurysmal dilatation of the thoracic aorta in young adolescents with variant hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome.

van der meer JW, Weemaes CM, van Krieken JH, Blomjous CE, van Die CE, Netea MG, Bredie SJ

Department of General Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

The autosomal-dominant (AD) form of the hyperimmunoglobulin E syndrome (HIES) has been described as a multisystem disorder including immune, skeletal and dental abnormalities. Recently, the evaluation of patients from families in which HIES was inherited in a manner more consistent with autosomal-recessive (AR) inheritance, showed that AR-HIES is a clinically distinct disease entity. In addition to classical immunologic findings of AD-HIES, the AR form presents with severe recurrent fungal and viral infections with herpes zoster, herpes simplex and characteristic mollusca contagiosa. Furthermore, cerebral vascular sequelae, including vasculitis, infarction and haemorrhage were noted. In this report, we describe the clinical picture of two patients who showed remarkable resemblance to the description of AR-HIES, but also developed fatal aneurysmal dilatation of the thoracic aorta in adolescence. This finding may further consummate the clinical picture of AR-HIES and emphasize the possibility to develop early aortitis, most likely preceding the critical aneurysm formation at older age. This process should be anticipated during childhood in cases with AR-HIES.

Published 17 May 2006 in J Intern Med, 259(6): 615-8.
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