Adverse Events Associated with Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy in Neuromuscular Disorders

Background: Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) has been administered for various immune-mediated neurological diseases such as autoimmune neuropathy, inflammatory myopathies, and other autoimmune neuromuscular disorders. The purpose of this study is to investigate side effects and complications of IVIg therapy in neuromuscular disorders. Methods: We enrolled 29 patients (age 8~63 years) with IVIg therapy for various neurological diseases including Guillain-Barre syndrome, myasthenia gravis, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and multifocal motor neuropathy. IVIg therapy was used at a dose of 0.4 g/kg body weight/day for 5 consecutive days. Results: 10 patients (34%) had adverse events. There are adverse events in 16 courses (11%) among total 145 courses. The majority of patients presented with mild side effects, mostly asymptomatic laboratory changes. Rash or mild headache occurred in 3 patients. One patient showed a serious side effect of deep vein thrombosis. Conclusions: IVIg therapy is safe for a variety of immune-mediated neurological diseases in our study.ope