Immotile cilia syndrome

ABSTRACT

Thirteen patients of immotile cilia syndrome [ICS] were admitted over a period of 5 years to Medical Unit II, Nishtar Medical College/Hospital, Multan Pakistan. They included 3 female and 10 male patients, ranging in age from 17-55 years [mean 28.84 years]. The diagnosis of the syndrome was made on clinical grounds, radiological features, and semen analysis. More elaborate investigations such as Saccharin test and electron microscopy of nasal scrapings or spermatozoa were not performed, as facilities for these were not available. All patients presented with chronic sinopulmonary infections or infertility or both. The average duration of cough and expectoration was 23.7 years. Kartagener's syndrome was found in 6 of the 13 patients [46.15%] affecting all the females and three of the males. Sinusitis was seen in 11 [84.61%] and bronchiectasis in 9 [69.23%] patients. Asthenozoospermia with normal sperm count was seen in all the males, and all the 8 married men were infertile; so were both the married women. Cor-pulmonale was noted in 5 [38.46%] patients