Single dose immunoglobulin therapy for childhood Guillain-Barrésyndrome

To establish the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) in the treatment of acute Guillain-Barrésyndrome (GBS), we treated nine consecutive pediatric cases (age 2.5–13.5 years) fulfilling the criteria for GBS with a single dose of IVIG (Sandoglobulin; 2 g/kg/BW). None of the patients experienced any IVIG related side-effects. The mean time required to improve by at least one grade on the functional GBS scale after IVIG treatment was 3.5 days, while the mean period to regain ambulation was 11.2 days. Full mobilization without evidence of relapse in the follow-up period (mean 14.5 months) was noted in all but one patient who relapsed after 5 months. We conclude that the early use of a single IVIG dose may prevent further progression of the disease, thus shortening the clinical course of childhood GBS. The mose beneficial IVIG dose regimen remains to be determined by controlled trials.