Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in a child with resistant atopic dermatitis

Abstract

In a subgroup of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD), treatment is quite difficult even after taking oral immunosuppressants. High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment has been reported to be beneficial for them in a few uncontrolled trials. Herein we report a case of intractable AD in a 5-year-old girl who had significant clinical improvement after receiving 3 cycles of IVIG treatment (2 g/kg) without notable side effects. Since the first infusion of IVIG, the patient's skin lesions improved steadily and the improvement persisted until the 8-month follow-up. The eczema area and severity index score decreased remarkably, while immunologic parameters did not correlate with clinical improvement. This case suggests that IVIG therapy can be quite effective and safe for children with resistant AD.