Does intravenous immune globulin improve left ventricular ejection fraction in adults with recent-onset dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis?
Intravenous immune globulin does not augment the improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with recent-onset dilated cardiomyopathy, though overall LVEF improves significantly over time.
BACKGROUND: This prospective placebo-controlled trial was designed to determine whether intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) improves left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in adults with recent onset of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy or myocarditis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty-two patients (37 men, 25 women; mean age +/-SD 43.0+/-12.3 years) with recent onset (/=0.10 from study entry, and 20 (36%) of 56 normalized their ejection fraction (>/=0.50). The transplant-free survival rate was 92% at 1 year and 88% at 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that for patients with recent-onset dilated cardiomyopathy, IVIG does not augment the improvement in LVEF. However, in this overall cohort, LVEF improved significantly during follow-up, and the short-term prognosis remains favorable.
McNamara et al. (Tue,) studied this question.