Original articleEfficacy of intravenous immunoglobulins in livedoid vasculopathy: Long-term follow-up of 11 patients
Section snippets
Demographic data, clinical and laboratory findings
This study was approved by our institutional review board. From 2002 until 2012, 11 consecutive patients with LV and primary and recurrent disease flares received IVIG at a dose of 2 g/kg body weight over 2 or 3 consecutive days every 4 weeks over 6 months. Each case was diagnosed on basis of clinical presentation (livedo reticularis, atrophie blanche, pain, ± ulceration) and by histopathology. Analyzed data were taken from the medical records and missing data were obtained by interviewing
Demographic data, clinical and laboratory findings
The mean age at diagnosis was 34 ± 12 years and the median disease history before diagnosis was 8.5 years (range 0.5-25). Cranial magnetic resonance imaging scan results (8 patients) were unremarkable in 6 and showed nonspecific isolated foci of gliosis in 2 cases. Peripheral arterial disease and chronic venous insufficiency were ruled out in all patients. Trigger factors were seasonal worsening in summer (5 patients) and in winter (1 patient) along with long-standing and mental distress. Six
Discussion
This long-term study demonstrates the significant reduction of disease activity in patients with LV after 6 IVIG cycles, measured by LVAS and DLQI score. Administration of 2 g/kg of IVIG over 2 to 3 consecutive days every 4 weeks induced complete remission of ulcerations and pain in 17 disease episodes (59%) after 3 cycles and in 25 of 29 disease episodes (86%) after 6 cycles. In addition, 2 disease episodes showed remission after 7 and 8 cycles, thereby increasing the total number of
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.