© 2005 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Thoracic Society
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Intravenous immunoglobulin improves clinical outcome in Churg-Strauss syndrome
Consultant Respiratory Physician, S P Fort Hospital, Trivandrum, India; arjun_p@vsnl.com
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Danieli MG, Cappelli M, Malcangi G, et al. Long term effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin in Churg-Strauss syndrome. Ann Rheum Dis 2004;63:1649–54
Churg-Strauss Syndrome (CSS) is a necrotising vasculitis of medium and small sized vessels clinically characterised by asthma, eosinophilia, and systemic vasculitis associated with circulating antibodies to antineutrophil cytoplasmic antigen (ANCA). The standard treatment of this condition comprises corticosteroids and, in severe cases, cytotoxic drugs. However, this treatment protocol is associated with a high relapse rate and significant drug dependent side effects.
In this prospective study 18 patients with new onset CSS were evaluated and divided into two groups. While all patients received the standard treatment of prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day for 1 month and then tapered) and, in severe cases, cyclophosphamide (2 mg/kg/day for 6 months), nine patients in the treatment group received "synchronized therapy" comprising cycles of plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (2 g/kg).
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