Possible effect of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy for unexplained secondary recurrent miscarriage

الملخص EN

Objective.

To review the role of intravenous immuno¬globulin (IVIG) in the prevention of recurrent miscarriage (RM).

Methods.

In a prospective controlled clinical tria], 40 women with a history of unexplained.

RM were treated with IVIG, according to a specific protocol and compared to another 40 women who had the same condition and treated with tender loving care and vitamins only.

The birth of a child of more than 28 weeks gestation was considered a successful outcome.

Results.

The overall success rate was 60 % in the IVIG group compared with 52.6 % in the control group (P = 0.65).

The success rates for women with primary RM were 56.3 % for IVIG group and 68.8 % for the control group (P = 0.72).

The success rates for women with secondary RM were 62.5 % and 41.7 % respectively (P = 0.25).

None of the pre¬vious results is statistically significant.

Conclusion.

Women with unexplained RM in general have a good prognosis.

IVIG did not improve the progno¬sis significantly in the total group of patients compared with controls.

However, further investigations are needed to explore whether the 21 % therapeutic benefit of IVIG in patients with secondary RM indicates that the treatment is efficient in this subset of patients.