A DOUBLE-BLIND, CROSS-OVER TRIAL OF INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN-G IN MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

We enrolled 25 patients with relapsing-remitting or relapsing progress ive multiple sclerosis (MS) in a randomized placebo-controlled double- blind study of intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG). IVIG I g/kg daily for 2 days was administered every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. Seventeen pati ents completed the whole trial, whereas eight patients discontinued th e trial; four during IVIG treatment and four on placebo. Of the 17 pat ients who completed the trial, II had no exacerbations during IVIG tre atment compared with only six on placebo (P = 0.05). The total number of exacerbations in the IVIG period was 11 and in the placebo period 1 5 (NS), and the number of severe exacerbations requiring treatment wit h intravenous methylprednisolone was four during treatment with IVIG a nd six on placebo (NS). The results suggest that IVIG treatment may be of benefit for prevention of exacerbations in patients with relapsing MS.