ABSTRACT
Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is a blood product prepared from the serum of between 1000 and 15,000 donors per batch and is the treatment of choice for patients with antibody deficiencies. In these conditions IVIg is used at a ‘replacement dose’ of 200-400 mg/kg body weight, given approximately 3weekly. In contrast, ‘high-dose’ IVIg (hdIVIg), given most frequently at 2 g/kg/ month, is used as an ‘immunomodulatory’ agent in an increasing number of immune and inflammatory disorders. The initial use of hdIVIg was for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in children.1 Despite the lack of double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trials, many other disorders are managed with hdIVIg, including numerous haematological, rheumatological, neurological and dermatological disorders.2
