T lymphocyte rosette formation after major burns.

The ability of lymphocytes to form rosettes with sheep erythrocytes was studied in the acute burn period to quantitate T lymphocytes. Seventeen adult patients with burns of greater than 15% body surface area were studied serially and compared to normal controls. The absolute number of total rosette-forming cells (RFC) averaged 1,229.1 +/- 92.8/cu mm (SEM) for controls. In patients, a comspicuous decrease in absolute number of total RFC occurred at days 3 to 5 postburn (578.0 +/- 144.2/cu mm) (P less than .001) and during days 6 to 10 (799.8 +/- 106.1/cu mm) (P less than .01). Similarly, the percentage total RFC in patients at days 6 to 10 (48.9% +/- 3.3%) was significantly lower than controls (73.9% +/- 0.7%) (P less than .01). The decrease in total RFC did not correlate with the total lymphocyte count or the cortisol level. These findings suggest that T lymphocytes are decreased or have altered rosette-forming ability in the early postburn period and are in accordance with other reports of impaired cellular immunity following burns.