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BACKGROUND: Over the past three decades, there has been a remarkable improvement in the outcome of children diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In general, paediatric-onset SLE has been associated with higher mortality rates and more disease damage than adults with SLE. The objective was to determinate the impact of clinical, laboratory, and electroencephalographic findings on survival amongst patients with paediatric-onset SLE. METHODS: Charts of Mexican patients with paediatric-onset SLE diagnosed between 1970 and 2001 were analysed retrospectively; univariate and multivariate analyses were used for analysing associations between clinical and laboratory features and death; Kaplan-Meier tests were used to estimate survival curves. RESULTS: 159 patients were included, 105 were female, with a median age of 12.7 years at diagnosis and a median duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis of 8.4 months. Univariate analysis showed that haematuria, leukocyturia, proteinuria, presence of urine cast, <60% glomerular filtration rate, haemolytic anaemia, and abnormal electroencephalogram, were all poor prognostic factors (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of proteinuria and abnormal electroencephalograms (p<0.05) were independent factors associated with death. The overall survival rate was 82.9% at five years and 77.4% at ten years upon follow-up. Infection and high disease activity were the most common causes of death. CONCLUSIONS: Survival of paediatric-onset SLE patients was lower compared to that reported for patients in wealthier countries. Amongst the patients who died, the presence of proteinuria and abnormal electroencephalograms were found to be determinant for survival. Infection and activity were the most common causes of death.

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Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) are rare but important conditions found predominantly in children. We studied PIDs in a large pediatric hospital, their association with cutaneous alterations, and the importance of cutaneous alterations as diagnostic markers. Among 382,383 pediatric patients, 130 (0.0003%) had a PID: humoral in 27, cellular and combined in 18, phagocytic in 37, and associated with major defects in 45. An average of two cutaneous alterations were present in 90 (69%) patients: infections in 80, eczema-dermatitis in 38, and miscellaneous in 57. In 71 (79%) patients the cutaneous alterations preceded and were the basis for the clinical immunologic diagnosis. Only two PIDs were not associated with cutaneous lesions.

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The Latin American Group for Primary Immunodeficiencies, formed in 1993, presently includes 12 countries. One goal was to study the frequency of primary immunodeficiencies in various regions of the American continent and to enhance knowledge about these diseases among primary-care physicians, as well as allergist-immunologists. Important for this purpose was the development of a registry of primary immunodeficiencies using a uniform questionnaire and computerized database. To date, eight countries have collected information on a total of 1428 patients. Predominantly antibody deficiencies were reported in 58% of patients, followed by cellular and antibody immunodeficiencies associated with other abnormalities in 18%, immunodeficiency syndromes associated with granulocyte dysfunction in 8%, phagocytic disorders in 9%, combined cellular and antibody immunodeficiencies in 5%, and complement deficiencies in 2% of patients. The information gathered from this initial analysis of data will serve to expand the patient database to more areas within participating countries and to new countries and to increase collaboration toward better diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

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BACKGROUND: Treacher-Collins syndrome, an autosomal dominantly inherited malformation of structures derived from the first and second branchial arch, has an incidence of 1:10,000 newborns. The prevalence of dermatomyositis at less than 24 years of age has been estimated at 1 per 100,000. The occurrence of both Treacher-Collins syndrome and dermatomyositis combined in the same patient should occur once in every 1,000,000,000 subjects. METHODS: We report a patient with Treacher-Collins syndrome who developed dermatomyositis at the age of 5 years. RESULTS: No other patient with both Treacher-Collins syndrome and an autoimmune disease has been reported. The thymus originates from the third branchial pouch and is unaffected by the syndrome. In Treacher-Collins syndrome the affected gene has been mapped to the fifth chromosome, while dermatomyositis is related to HLA B8 and DR3, coded on the sixth chromosome. No immunologic alteration has been described in patients with Treacher-Collins syndrome. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of a patient with Treacher-Collins syndrome and dermatomyositis. There is no genetic or physiopathologic explanation for the concurrence of both conditions.

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Se determinaron anticuerpos anticardiolipina (aAC) por el método de ELISA en 112 sueros de pacientes en edad pediátrica (un mes a diez y siete años), de ambos sexos, que acudieron a su toma de muestras de los servicios de ortopedia, oftalmología y cirugía del Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, para someterse a una cirugía menor, en quienes se descartó algún problema autoinmune o infeccioso. También se incluyeron 13 sueros de pacientes positivos para aAC que padecían el síndrome antifosfolípido, sueros controles positivos y negativos valorados en el Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición y un pool de sueros preparados con 50 muestras de los 112 sujetos antes mencionados. El valor de corte o negatividad para los sueros normales se obtuvo conforme la indica Loizou y col. aumentando cinco desviaciones estándares (1 DS = 0.1890, 5 DS = 0.9450) al valor promedio de las absorbencias (X = 0.4049) obtenidas de los 112 sujetos sanos, quedando un valor de 1.3499 (0.4049 + 0.9450)

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The case of a 3 month old child with severe combined sex linked immunodeficiency is presented. The diagnosis was well doccumented, during his life. The child presented as a case of mucocutaneous moniliasis resistant to treatment. There was a history of similar cases in the family; diagnosis was made at post-mortem in one cousin and death occurred at early age in all kins so affected. Blood marrow transplant was not feasible in our case because histocompatibility was lacking in the kins studied. Three units of transfer factor were given as well as hyperimmune plasma but the child died in respiratory failure. Autopsy demonstrated pulmonary infection by Pneumocystic carinii and generalized citomegalic inclussion virus infection; almost complete absence of immune tissue was also demonstrated.

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