Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jul 5;130(13):1604-1609.
doi: 10.4103/0366-6999.208234.

Characteristics of Good's Syndrome in China: A Systematic Review

Jin-Pei Dong  1 , Wen Gao  1 , Gui-Gen Teng  1 , Yu Tian  1 , Hua-Hong Wang  1
Affiliations

Characteristics of Good's Syndrome in China: A Systematic Review

Jin-Pei Dong et al. Chin Med J (Engl). .

Abstract

Background: Good's syndrome (GS) is a rare disease characterized by thymoma, hypogammaglobulinemia, low or absent B-cells, decreased T-cells, an inverted CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio and reduced T-cell mitogen proliferative responses. GS is difficult to diagnose preoperatively due to its rarity and lack of typical symptoms, the characteristics of Chinese GS patients are still lacking. This study aimed to systematically review all the clinical, laboratory, and immunologic findings of reported cases of Chinese patients with GS.

Methods: We searched for case reports and articles up to January 2017 using PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wangfang database and China Science and Technology Journal Database with the following words in combinations as key words: "thymoma," "hypogammaglobulinemia," and "Good's syndrome." The text words and MeSH terms were entered depending on the databases characteristics. The reference lists from retrieved articles were also screened for additional applicable studies. The authors were restricted to Chinese. There was no language restriction.

Results: Forty-seven patients were reported in 27 studies. We found that GS has a nationwide distribution and that most cases (83%) have been described on the mainland of China. The initial clinical presentation is varied, ranging from symptoms related to the thymoma to infections resulting from immunodeficiency. Type AB (50%) is the most common histologic type of thymomas in Chinese GS patients according to the World Health Organization classification of thymomas. With respect to infection, sinopulmonary infection (74%) is the most common type, followed by skin infection (10%) and intestinal tract infection (10%). Diarrhea was presented in 36% of patients, and autoimmune manifestations were presented in 36% of patients.

Conclusions: GS is a rare association of thymoma and immunodeficiency with a poor prognosis. Astute clinical acumen and increased awareness of the clinical and immunological profile of GS are needed to increase early diagnosis, that would benefit improved therapeutic effects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the review search and identification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kelesidis T, Yang O. Good's syndrome remains a mystery after 55 years: A systematic review of the scientific evidence. Clin Immunol. 2010;135:347–63. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2010.01.006. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Good RA. Agammaglobulinemia: A provocative experiment of nature. Bull Univ Minn Hosp. 1954;26:1–19.
    1. Zhang Y, Han YQ. Care of a patient with Good's syndrome and red man syndrome, a case report (in Chinese) Chin Nurs Res. 2011;25:1406–7. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1009-6493.2011.15.059.
    1. Peng JM, Sun G, Xu DB. A case report of Good's syndrome (in Chinese) Chin J Pract Intern Med. 2004;24:256. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1005-2194.2004.04.031.
    1. Guo Z, Zhang SF. A case report of Good's syndrome. Prac J Med and Pharm. 2011;28:550. doi: 10.14172/j.cnki.issn1671-4008.2011.06.058.

Publication types