HYPOGAMMAGLOBULINEMIA IN GIRLS

Abstract

To the Editor : In the article entitled Hypogammaglobulinemia in a Young Girl by Taggis et al. in the July issue of theAmerican Journal of Diseases of Childrenthe authors suggested that their patient represented an unclassified category of hypogammaglobulinemia. They differentiated this type from the congenital form by occurrence in young girls as well as boys, hyperplasia of lymphoid tissue, absence of leukocytosis in the presence of infection, splenomegaly frequently, and γ-globulin levels which tended to be somewhat higher. The authors further suggested that a young female we reported in 1957 might fall into this unclassified category. Our patient, however, lacks certain of the authors' differentiating characteristics. This child has had a conspicuous lack of lymphadenopathy—in fact, during a skin biopsy the surgeon was unable to find an available node in the axillary space for biopsy. Although she has had cyclic neutropenia, at times she has had marked leukocytosis—during