Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy for antibody deficiency.

Twenty patients with antibody deficiency were treated at random with either intramuscular immune serum globulin (ISG) or intravenous modified immune serum globulin (M-ISG). Fourteen patients received of 259 M-ISG infusions during 242 months of treatment. Catastrophic vasomotor reactions were not observed. A single dose of 150 mg/kilo M-ISG increased serum IgG values a mean 248 mg%. Intravenous M-ISG therapy was effective in reducing the incidence of acute infections. Subjects receiving M-ISG developed 0.103 acute infections per month of treatment. Patients injected with ISG had 0.295 acute infections per month of treatment. Seven subjects had separate courses of both intravenous M-ISG and intramuscular ISG. Acute infections per month of treatment for M-ISG and ISG were 0.104 and 0.406, respectively.