INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN IN THE PREVENTION OF RECURRENT SPONTANEOUS-ABORTION - THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE

PROBLEM: Clinical trials of the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IvI g) in the treatment of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Europe were reported and discussed. METHOD OF STUDY: A search of the publishe d literature, combined with our own published and unpublished results, was performed. RESULTS: Two placebo-controlled trials have been concl uded in Europe. One trial found high but equal success rates in both t he IvIg and the placebo group. Another trial found that IvIg treatment may increase the success rate by 24% compared with placebo but that t he result was not statistically significant, which might be due to the small number of patients. Reasons for the diverse results of the two trials were discussed. CONCLUSION: More and larger placebo-controlled trials of IvIg treatment in RSA are needed before drawing definitive c onclusions.