What is chronic granulomatous disease?

Also known as: CGD.

The phagocyte is one of the body’s blood cells, (part of the body’s defense systems - the immune system) which helps the body fight against bacterial and fungal infections. Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is the disorder that develops when this cell doesn’t function properly.

Children with CGD have recurrent illnesses and frequently get very sick from many of the bacterial infections that normally cause little or only mild infections in well children. The granulomas in CGD are nodular lumps of inflammatory material that result from the chronic infections that occur, and are usually found in the skin, and gastrointestinal/genitourinary tracts.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM