Kawasaki disease is a systemic vasculitis that mainly affects younger children. Although the definite cause still remains unknown but the clinical and epidemiologic findings discuss an infectious cause. The prevalence of incomplete Kawasaki disease reported 15 to 36.2%, and it is more frequent in the extremes of the age spectrum. Non delayed treatment of disease should be initiated because of critical cardiac vascular complications. Up to 15%-25% of patients with Kawasaki disease who remain febrile after administration of first dose of INTRAVENOUS immunoglobin plus aspirin are classified as refractory disease. These INTRAVENOUS immunoglobin resistant cases are at increasing risk for coronary artery complications. The strategy on prediction of potentially non responder and treatment of INTRAVENOUS immunoglobin resistant patients is now controversial but some useful points were recommended.

Myocarditis is an inflammatory disease of the myocardium with lymphocyte infiltration and myocyte necrosis leading to a wide range of clinical presentations including heart failure, arrhythmia, and cardiogenic shock. Infectious and noninfectious agents may trigger the disease. The fact that immunosuppressive drugs are useful in several kinds of autoimmune myocarditis is proof of the autoimmune mechanisms involved in the development of myocarditis. Pathogenic mechanisms in myocardial inflammation are including inflammasome activation followed by myocyte destruction, myocarditis, and pericarditis. INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN (IVIG) is a serum product made up of IMMUNOGLOBULINs, widely used in a variety of diseases. This product is effective in several immune-mediated pathologies. As well as the determined usage of IVIG in Kawasaki disease, IVIG may be useful in several kinds of heart failure including fulminant myocarditis, acute inflammatory cardiomyopathy, Giant Cell Myocarditis, and peripartum cardiomyopathy. Generally, IVIG is used in two different doses of low dose (200 to 400 mg/kg) and high dose (2 g/kg) regimen. The exact therapeutic effects of IVIG are not clear, however over the last decades, our knowledge about its mechanism of function has greatly enhanced. IVIG administration should be based on the accepted protocols of its transfusion. In this review article, we try to provide an overview of the different kinds of myocarditis, pathologic mechanisms and their common treatments and evaluation of the administration of IVIG in these diseases. Furthermore, we will review current protocols using IVIG in each disease individually.

Background: Evidence indicating that INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN (IVIG) could prove effective against neonatal immune hemolytic hyperbilirubinemia, reducing the need for exchange transfusion. Objective: To determine the prophylactic effect of IVIG in decreasing the incidence and severity of neonatal immune hemolytic jaundice. Methods: A case-control prospective randomized trial in Hafez and Nemazi Hospitals in Shiraz, Iran, was undertaken between September 1998 through August 1999. Fulfilling the inclusion criteria forty full-term, healthy neonates with Rh or ABO incompatibility, entered the study and were randomly assigned into 2 equal groups. IVIG was administered in a single dose of 500 mg/kg to 20 neonates in the treatment group 4-6 hours during the first 24 hours of life. Nothing was given to 20 controls. All neonates were evaluated prospectively to detect jaundice or pallor till 10-days-old. Results: The IVIG-treated neonates had a smaller rise in their bilirubin levels, required significantly less phototherapy (0% vs. 35%) (p<0. 05) and a shorter duration of hospitalization than those in the control group. In both groups, the hematocrit and hemoglobin values remained fairly stable and none of the infants had bilirubin levels exceeding the exchange levels. No side effects of IVIG were seen. Conclusions: Our results indicates that IVIG administration may be effective in prevention of neonatal immune hemolytic hyperbilirubinemia. However, further studies are required to validate the efficacy of this treatment and to determine the optimal dose, number of infusions and the best preparation of IVIG treatment.

Purpose: To report a case of non-paraneoplastic autoimmune retinopathy (npAIR) treated with INTRAVENOUS IMMUNOGLOBULIN (IVIG). Case report: A 12-year-old boy presented with progressive visual field loss, nyctalopia, and flashing for three months. He had suffered from common cold two weeks before the onset of these symptoms. On the basis of clinical history and paraclinical findings, he was diagnosed with npAIR, and IVIG without immunosuppressive therapy was started. During the one-year follow-up period after the first course of IVIG, flashing disappeared completely. Visual acuity remained 10/10, but nyctalopia did not improve. Multimodal imaging showed no disease progression. Conclusion: Although established retinal degenerative changes seem irreversible in npAIR, IVIG may be a suitable choice to control the disease progression.