Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in the inflammatory neuropathies.

The inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies are presumed to be autoimmune diseases and as such have been treated in the past with corticosteroids, plasmapheresis and immunosuppressants. Immunoglobulin infusions represent a fourth treatment with the potential to modify the activity of the immune system in disease states. Limited past experience suggests that both acute inflammatory polyneuropathy and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy may respond to immunoglobulin infusions with minimal morbidity. We here outline our successful experience of this treatment in 5 of 6 patients with inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies and review the literature describing its use.