Intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy in steroid-resistant atopic dermatitis

Many trials have been done on steroid-resistant atopic dermatitis, Recently , intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) was reported to be effective in the tr eatment of steroid-dependent atopic dermatitis, The aim of this study was t o clarify whether IVIG therapy is effective in steroid-resistant atopic der matitis. Forty-one steroid-resistant atopic dermatitis patients were tested in this study. Patients who weighed less than 30 kg were administered 500 mg/kg of IVIG. Patients who weighed 30 kg or more were administered 15 g of IVIG. Patient evaluations and laboratory tests with peripheral bloods such as eosinophil percentages and serum IgE levels were performed at days 0, 1 , 7, and 21, In the present study, patients who responded to IVIG therapy w ere classified as Group A. Twelve patients who showed transient effects wit h lower clinical significance were classified as Group B (29.3%). Remaining 12 patients (29.3%) in Group C showed no improvement at all, Serum IgE lev els and blood eosinophil percentages were markedly decreased in Group A. IV IG therapy may be recommended in the treatment of atopic dermatitis with ex tremely high serum IgE levels.