A Randomized Controlled Trial of IV Immunoglobulin in Patients with Post-Polio Syndrome

Richard L. Bruno, HD, PhD
Director, International Centre for Polio Education

“A single IVIG course leaves gait, muscle strength, fatigue and bodily pain unchanged in PPS...” Bertolasi L1, et al. J Neurol Sci. 2013 Jul 15;330(1-2):94-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2013.04.016.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate in a single-center randomized control trial whether a single IVIg course improves short- term outcome in patients with post-polio syndrome (PPS).

METHODS:

Fifty-one patients with PPS were randomly allocated to receive 2g/kg IVIg body weight or placebo infused over 5 consecutive days. The primary endpoint was health-related quality of life (HRQoL) limited to the physical component score (PCS) in the Short-Form-36 (SF-36). Secondary endpoints included the SF-36 mental component score (MCS), 6-minute walk test, visual analog scale, 101- numeric rating, and fatigue severity scale. Muscle strength was graded according to the Medical Research Council scale and by dynamometer. Primary and secondary outcome variables were tested double-blind at baseline, 2months, and 4months.

RESULTS:

At two months, although SF-36 PCS scores were similar in both arms, the role physical (RP) domain improved significantly in the treatment arm (p=0.05) and so did the composite MCS (p=0.015), and role emotional (RE) subscale (p=0.02). No differences were found in the remaining outcome measures. At 4months, none of the outcome variables differed significantly between groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although the study did not reach the primary endpoint, we showed that a single IVIg course improves HRQoL related to mental activity, as measured by the SF-36 composite MCS, and role limitations including RP and RE SF-36 subscales at 2months, in patients with PPS. A single IVIG course leaves, gait, muscle strength, fatigue and bodily pain unchanged in patients with PPS.