Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment in autoimmune neurological disorders--effects on quality of life.

ABSTRACT

Autoimmune neurological disorders are very common. Health-related quality-of-life measures, obtained through a patient-oriented tool (a self-administered questionnaire), are now considered essential in the evaluation of therapies, especially for pathologies that may affect patients' general status. We reviewed the most common autoimmune neurological disorders and their treatment, and we report on our experience on intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) administration and the relationship between IVIG and health-related quality of life. Generally, IVIG administration is effective in the most common autoimmune neurological diseases. Concerning the relationship between IVIG treatment and health-related quality of life, our results reveal an improvement of physical aspects of patients' health-related quality of life after IVIG administration. Conversely, the comparison of mental scores between the evaluation at baseline and the evaluation at follow-up exhibited no difference. Although the use of IVIG is effective for autoimmune neurological disorders, there are no commonly accepted protocols for the use of IVIG treatment. Further controlled studies on IVIG, including quality-of-life assessments, are necessary to develop needed evidence on the use of IVIG in clinical practice.