Coeliac disease and variable immunodeficiency. Case report

Common variable immunodeficiency syndrome affects mainly adults and rarely children. The prognosis for these patients may be favorable when they don't develop complications such as bronchiectasis, autoimmune or malignant diseases. This paper presents the clinical observation of an 11 years old girl with low levels of all classes of immunoglobulins and frequent bacterial infections, which is the main characteristic of common variable immunodeficiency. The patient had first symptoms at the age of 8 years and, after about one year, she was diagnosed with bronchiectasis. After about 3 years of follow-up she presented abdominal pains and failure to thrive. The duodenal biopsy revealed an aspect suggestive for coeliac disease type Marsh 3C. A combination of common variable immunodeficiency with atypical coeliac disease was not previously reported in Romania.