A treatment experience of intravenous immunoglobulin and therapeutic plasma exchange in a neurology clinic for 5 years

The aim of this study was to monitor intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy and therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) in three different neuroimmunological diseases.A total of 50 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), 22 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), and 13 myasthenia gravis (MG) were retrospectively reviewed in terms of treatment efficacy.No significant difference was found between Hughes and Medical Research Council (MRC) sum scale at the time of admission and 3 months after admission in patients with GBS who received IVIG and TPE treatment.Further, no significant difference was observed between the MRC sum scale and the overall disability status scale at the time of admission and 3 months after admission in patients with CIDP who received IVIG and TPE treatment.Although the Osserman scores of the patients with MG receiving TPE treatment were higher than those of the patients with MG receiving IVIG treatment, the Osserman scores after 3 months of admission did not differ significantly.This study concluded that IVIG treatment and TPE did not differ in terms of treatment efficacy in the case of common neuroimmunological diseases.