[Immunologic disorders in children with developmental thoracic defects].

As the result of immunological examination of 21 children with developmental defects of the chest and analysis of the course of the postoperative period in 136 children, among which 36 had hereditary syndromes of systemic connective-tissue dyshistogenesis, it was found that suppurative complications of thoracoplasty, which are encountered in 15% of children with isolated developmental chest defects and in 33.3% of those with the above mentioned syndromes, were caused to a great measure by disorders of the immune status. The most serious immunological deviations were encountered in the Marfan syndrome due to impaired phagocytic activity of neutrophils and monocytes, decreased number of T, T active, and B lymphocytes, and diminished function of T helpers. In unclassified complexes of developmental defects with Marfaneic ++ phenotypes, the immunological disorders were similar, but less deep. In the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a decrease of the number of immunocompetent cells, function of T helpers, and neutrophils was mainly revealed. In isolated forms of funnel chest the function of monocytes and the number of immunoglobulins are mainly decreased.