Original Articles
L Torissi, A Soulaymani, A Mok
Abstract
Intravenous immunoglobulin IVIg is an essential treatment for many neurological, immunological and haematological conditions. However, the severity of its rare adverse effects is often underrecognised. We report a case of a child receiving IVIg for Kawasaki Disease who developed severe skin reactions and cyanosis. Kawasaki disease is an acute, self-limited vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs predominantly in infants and children. If not treated early with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin, 1 in 5 children develop coronary artery aneurysms; this risk is reduced 5-fold if intravenous immunoglobulin is administered within 10 days of fever onset 1.Immunoglobulins are a plasma-derived drug, which have been initially used as a replacement therapy for patients with antibody deficiency. Since 1980 they have also been used for their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating efficacy in auto-immune diseases. In Kawasaki disease Intravenous Immunoglobulins IVIgs still modulate the synthesis and the release of cytokines and chemokines, in combination with neutralization of the suspected bacterial superantigen activity 2.