Intravenous immunoglobulins for rheumatic disorders and thromboembolic events —a case series and review of the literature

AbstractTo report the temporal association between a series of thromboembolic events and intravenous immunoglobulin infusion in patients with rheumatic diseases, and to review the literature on the subject. The clinical presentation, course, and outcome of thromboembolic events occurring post-immunoglobulin infusion in nine patients is described. A web-based literature review using the PubMed database from 1996 to 2017 was performed, searching for the keywords: thrombosis, thromboembolism, intravenous immunoglobulin, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, cerebrovascular event, and acute myocardial infarction. Nine patients who had suffered a thromboembolic event within a week after receiving an intravenous immunoglobulin infusion (Omr-IgG-am ™, OMRIX) were identified among our joint cohort. All patients except one were female ranging in age from 22 to 69 years. Five had progressive systemic sclerosis (one of them had progressive systemic sclerosis with antiphospholipid syndrome, and another had an overlap of progressive systemic scle rosis with systemic lupus erythematosus), the sixth had monoclonal IgM autoimmune neuropathy, the seventh had systemic lupus erythematosus with antiphospholipid syndrome, the eighth had granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and the ninth had overlap autoimmune syndrome. Six of the patients had an a rterial thrombosis: an acute myocardial infarction in four, a brachial artery thrombosis in the fifth, and a cerebrovascular attack in the six...
Source: Immunologic Research - Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research