Eczema, Thrombocytopenic Purpura, and Recurring Infections

Abstract

Since the initial report of this syndrome, in 1954, by Aldrich and others,¹we have been interested in its appearance in three additional children and their families. Two of the children were related. An increased susceptibility to infection has been a common finding, but the reason for this has not been evident in any studies on these children or those reported elsewhere. Eczema and thrombocytopenia are associated with this susceptibility to infections, and a tendency to bleed into the skin and into the stools has been noted frequently. The condition affects only males, and the fact that it is a sex-linked mendelian-recessive characteristic is clearly indicated in the careful and thorough genetic study of the first family seen at the Mayo Clinic, reported by Aldrich and associates,¹in 1954. Recent correspondence has indicated that two other male infants belonging to this family have died