Intravenous Immunoglobulin in the Prevention of Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion: The European Experience

PROBLEM: Clinical trials of the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IvIg) in the treatment of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Europe were reported and discussed. METHOD OF STUDY: A search of the published literature, combined with our own published and unpublished results, was performed. RESULTS: Two placebo-controlled trials have been concluded in Europe. One trial found high but equal success rates in both the IvIg and the placebo group. Another trial found that IvIg treatment may increase the success rate by 24% compared with placebo but that the result was not statistically significant, which might be due to the small number of patients. Reasons for the diverse results of the two trials were discussed. CONCLUSION: More and larger placebo-controlled trials of IvIg treatment in RSA are needed before drawing definitive conclusions.