Comparisons in fluctuation of muscle strength and function in patients with immune‐mediated neuropathy treated with intravenous versus subcutaneous immunoglobulin

INTRODUCTION: Variation of muscle strength and function have not been studied in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and multifocal motor neuropathy whose treatment regimen has been changed from intravenous to subcutaneous immunoglobulin (IVIG to SCIG).METHODS: In a prospective open label study, patients were changed from monthly IVIG to weekly SCIG. The primary endpoint was the variation of isokinetic muscle strength (cIKS). Secondary endpoints were variation of Medical Research Council (MRC) score, grip strength (GS), 9-hole-peg test (9-HPT), 40-meter-walk test (40-MWT).RESULTS: The coefficient of variance of cIKS during the IVIG and SCIG treatment periods was unchanged (6.97±4.83% vs. 5.50±3.13%, mean± SD, p=0.21). The variation of the 9-HPT and the 40 MWT were significantly lower in the SCIG group(p=0.01 and p=0.005, respectively).DISCUSSION: When therapy was changed from IVIG to SCIG, fluctuation of muscle strength was unchanged, whereas performance fluctuations were diminished This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.