Atteintes respiratoires au cours du déficit immunitaire commun variable de l’adulte

[Common variable immunodeficiency disorders: Part 2. Updated clinical manifestations and therapeutic management]

Common variable immunodeficiency disorders (CVID) are the most common symptomatic primary antibody deficiency in adults with an estimated prevalence of 1/25,000. The most frequent clinical manifestations are upper respiratory tract infections (including pneumonia, bronchitis, and sinusitis) predominantly with Streptococcus pneumoniae or H. influenzae. However, CVID are complicated in 20 to 30 % of cases of non-infectious manifestations which have been well characterized in recent years. Several complications can be observed including autoimmune, lymphoproliferative, granulomatous or cancerous manifestations involving one or more organs. These complications, mostly antibody-mediated cytopenias, are correlated with a decrease in the number of circulating switched memory B cells. Replacement therapy with polyvalent gammaglobulins has greatly improved the prognosis of these patients but it remains poor in the presence of digestive complications (especially in the case of chronic enteropathy and/or porto-sinusoidal vascular disease), pulmonary complications (bronchiectasis and/or granulomatous lymphocytic interstitial lung disease) and when progression to lymphoma. Much progress is still to be made, in particular on the therapeutic management of non-infectious complications which should benefit in the future from targeted treatments based on knowledge of genetics and immunology.

Humoral primary immunodeficiency diseases: clinical overview and chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) features in the adult population

Humoral primary immunodeficiency diseases (hPIDs) are a heterogeneous group of hereditary disorders resulting in abnormal susceptibility to infections of the sinopulmonary tract. Some of these conditions (e.g., common variable immunodeficiency disorders [CVID]) imply a number of non-infectious thoracic complications such as non-infectious airway disorders, diffuse lung parenchymal diseases, and neoplasms. Chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is a key imaging tool to characterise and quantify the extent of underlying thoracic involvement, as well as to direct and monitor treatment. The aims of this review are to provide a brief clinical overview of hPIDs and describe the related chest HRCT imaging features in the adult population, with a special focus on CVID and its complications.