PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - McVicker, Shireen
AU  - Karim, M Yousuf
TI  - IgE deficiency may indicate underlying hypogammaglobulinaemia?
AID  - 10.1136/jclinpath-2014-202461
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - Journal of Clinical Pathology
PG  - 832--833
VI  - 67
IP  - 9
4099  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/67/9/832.short
4100  - http://jcp.bmj.com/content/67/9/832.full
SO  - J Clin Pathol2014 Sep 01; 67
AB  - Low serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) (<2 kU/L) found during allergy investigations may be a marker for other immunodeficiency states, in particular common variable immunodeficiency. The latter is characterised by recurrent infections, mainly respiratory, resulting in structural lung damage making early diagnosis important. We looked through 4013 samples retrospectively over a 12-month period to identify samples with IgE <2 kU/L. We identified 74/4013 (1.84%) with serum IgE levels <2 kU/L. Only 20 samples had serum immunoglobulin quantification and serum electrophoresis requested. Three of these samples were from the same patient, 10/18 (56%) had one or more classes of immunoglobulin above/below reference range for age and two of these had new diagnosis of immunodeficiency. Serum IgE <2 kU/L can be a marker for hypogammaglobulinaemia or common variable immunodeficiency. As early diagnosis is important to reduce morbidity and mortality, very low serum IgE should trigger further investigation—that is, serum protein electrophoresis and immunoglobulin quantification.