[Blood hypereosinophilias. IV. Symptomatic hypereosinophilias: connective tissue diseases, neoplasms, blood diseases, various causes].

Among the symptomatic hypereosinophilias and apart from pathologies covered in Note III, diseases of the connective tissue, neoplasias, blood diseases and other conditions are also examined. Two connective tissue diseases often accompanied by hypereosinophilias are Churg and Strauss angiitis and eosinophilic fascitis. Churg and Strauss angiitis (of which 2 personal cases are reported) is a systemic vasculitis usually seen in combination with bronchial asthma and haematic eosinophilia. Eosinophilic fascitis is quite rare and poorly understood. Its symptoms include hardening of the skin and eosinophilia and it is difficult to differentiate from progressive systemic sclerosis. The possible reasons why hypereosinophilia sometimes accompanies benign and more often malignant tumours are discussed. The pathogenesis of the hypereosinophilias encountered in diseases of the blood is still controversial. One hypothesis is that hypereosinophilia is an intrinsic symptom of the blood disease, others believe it to be an immunological response. In this context two personal cases are reported as examples: one of hypereosinophilia in a malignant non-Hodgkins lymphoma, the second in an IgG plasmacytoma. Particular attention was paid to the hypereosinophilia that accompanies the rare blood disease known as angioimmunoblastic lymphoadenopathy with dysproteinaemia (LAID) of which a personal case is reported.