© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
COMMENTARY
Cystic fibrosis
Intravenous immunoglobulin for cystic fibrosis lung disease
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Prof. R L Smyth
Brough Professor of Paediatric Medicine, University of Liverpool, Institute of Child Health, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool L12 2AP, UK; r.l.smyth@liv.ac.uk
Commentary on the paper by Balfour-Lynn et al
Keywords: cystic fibrosis
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
In a retrospective review published in this issue,1 Balfour-Lynn and colleagues describe 16 children with cystic fibrosis (CF) who appeared to show clinical improvement following regular infusions of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). They have not described any criteria for the commencement of treatment, but the majority of children had previously been diagnosed with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). An analysis of efficacy compared lung function and other concomitant treatments before starting therapy and after courses of therapy, the number of which varied considerably between patients. This treatment was associated with a reduction in the doses of oral and inhaled steroids. There was some improvement in forced vital capacity, but no difference in forced expiratory volume in one second.
Clinical practice has been likened to an experiment, where a patient presents with a problem, treatment is initiated, and the results of treatment are later assessed and conclusions drawn about whether or
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
