Therapeutic effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin at 1 g/kg and 2 g/kg on Kawasaki disease: a comparative and follow-up study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin IVIG, 1 g/kg single intravenous injection in treating and preventing cardiac consequences of Kawasaki disease (KD) in children. METHODS: A total of 242 children with KD disease were enrolled in the study. In the randomized controlled trial, they were randomly divided into two groups: IVIG 1 g/kg group and IVIG 2 g/kg group, with aspirin administered within the first 7 to 10 days of illness. The occurrence and restoration of coronary artery lesion (CAL) in these two groups as well as the clinical and laboratory indexes including total fever duration, restoration of cervical lymphadenopathy, white blood cells count, platelet count, serum immunoglobulin, C reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and EKG were observed. The clinical effectiveness of the groups before and after the treatment was analyzed. RESULTS: The age of the 242 children with KD disease ranged from 3 months to 14 years (mean 4.0 +/- 2.8 years old). Male to female ratio was 1.66:1, 83.1% of KD patients were blow 5 years old, 93.4% patients were followed up with echocardiography at the end of the first year and the follow-up period was (38 +/- 18) months, ranging from 4 months to 5.4 years; 86.9% of the cases in 1 g/kg group and 91.7% of the cases in 2 g/kg group had their fever controlled within 48 hours. The difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Serum immunoglobulin level was markedly enhanced after IVIG. Serum immunoglobulin levels in the patients of 2 g/kg group and 1 g/kg group were (26.9 +/- 7.4) g/L and (18.3 +/- 6.9) g/L, respectively (P < 0.01). The average duration of fever in IVIG 1 g/kg group was 10.6 days. After the treatment with 1 g/kg of IVIG, the abnormal white blood cells count, platelet count, C reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and abnormal EKG findings were greatly improved (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the above-mentioned improvement between IVIG 1 g/kg group and IVIG 2 g/kg group (P > 0.05). In IVIG 1 g/kg group the occurrence of CAL was 29.5%. After the one-year follow-up, 87.5% CAL restored, but 12.5% did not, among which 9.4% were those of IVIG non-responders. In IVIG 2 g/kg group the incidence of CAL was 24.2%. After the one-year follow-up, 89.3% CAL restored, but 10.7% did not, all of which were those of IVIG non-responders. There was no significant difference in the incidence of CAL between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Single intravenous injection of IVIG at 1 g/kg could effectively alleviate the clinical symptoms, decrease the incidence of CAL and reduce the complication of cardiovascular system. In the treatment of KD, the therapeutic effectiveness of IVIG at 1 g/kg was not significantly different from that of single intravenous injection of IVIG at 2 g/kg.