LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF LAMBERT-EATON SYNDROME TREATED WITH INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN

Recent reports have shown that patients with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) improve transiently after high-dose intravenous immuno globulin (IVIG) administration. Information about the usefulness of IV IG for long-term treatment is rather scanty. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of monthly IVIG courses at a dose of 0.4 g/kg/day for 5 d ays, in a 41-year-old patient with LEMS without detectable malignancy. Improvement in limb strength, peak expiratory flow rate, and electrop hysiological parameters, as well as clinical signs following IVIG, was evident as early as 7 days after the first course and is still mainta ined at 24-months follow-up. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.