Laboratory investigation of pediatric acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Unique laboratory abnormalities, found in pediatric patients with clinical features of immunodeficiency, led to the original observation that a syndrome of acquired immunodeficiency (AIDS) was also occurring in pediatric populations. Initial observations which demonstrated the nonspecific findings of polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia and T-cell deficiency were followed by confirmatory findings when testing for the AIDS retrovirus became available. In the pediatric population availability of antibody testing and viral isolation became critical in differentiating primary immunodeficiency disorders which involved both the B- and T-cell systems from AIDS associated with retrovirus infection. At this time based upon clinical, epidemiologic, immunologic, and serologic studies, the syndrome of pediatric AIDS can be distinguished from other primary and secondary pediatric immunodeficiency disorders.