Efficacy and safety of high infusion rate IVIG in CIDP.

Abstract

We aimed to determine the safety and tolerance of higher rates of infusion of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Patients began infusions with 10% IVIG at the standard rate of 0.08 mL/kg/min. If tolerated, infusion rates were incrementally increased to 0.14 mL/kg/min. We considered the frequency of infusions with adverse events (AEs) as the primary outcome. Nineteen of 25 patients safely tolerated the maximum rate of 0.14 mL/kg/min. We observed 25 treatment-related AEs (TAEs) over 13 infusions at standard or transitional rates, across seven patients. We observed no TAEs associated with the maximum infusion rate. We found that 10% IVIG can be safely administered at a high infusion rate (0.14 ml/kg/min) in most CIDP patients, reducing the treatment time and burden on healthcare resources.