Assessment of weight and height of patients with primary immunodeficiency disorders and group of children with recurrent respiratory tract infections.

Abstract

Background Primary immunodeficiences (PIDs) are a group of chronic, serious disorders in which the immune response is insufficient. In consequence, it leads to an increased susceptibility to infections. Up to date, there are about 300 different disorders classified in that group. There are also patients suffering from recurrent respiratory tract infections (RRTI), however that group doesn't present any abnormalities in terms of conducted immunological tests. Many factors, including medical, can have an impact on physical development of a child. Data such as birth weight and length, also weight, height, BMI during admission to the hospital were collected from 207 patients' medical histories from their hospitalization at Clinical Immunology and Paediatrics ward of J.Gromkowski Hospital in Wrocław. Investigated groups included patients with PIDs, RRTI and a control group of healthy children. Our purpose was to evaluate the physical growth of children with PID and children with RRTI by assessment of their height and weight. All of parameters were evaluated using centile charts suitable best for the Polish population. Results The lowest mean birth weight and height was found among the PIDs patients group. Children with PIDs during hospitalization had statistically relevant lower mean weight than the control group and almost 20% of them had their height situated below 3rd percentile. No statistically relevant differences have been found between them and RRTI group. The statistically significant difference was between the nutritional status of PID patients and the control group. Conclusions There is a higher percentage of PID patients with physical growth abnormalities in comparison to healthy children. Our findings indicate a need for further investigation of immune system irregularities and their influence on physical growth of children.