An unusual form of chronic neutropenia in a father and daughter with hypogammaglobulinaemia.

Chronic neutropenia, with an abundance of mature neutrophils in the bone marrow, was discovered in a father and daughter who also had common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia. Under the stress of infection or following the administration of typhoid vaccine, release of neutrophils from the marrow was enhanced sufficiently to abolish neutropenia temporarily. Although their morphology was abnormal, the function of neutrophils in vitro was normal. Thus, the increased susceptibility to infection that characterized these patients appeared to be due primarily to their defect in humoral immunity rather than their neutropenia.