[Exfoliative dermatitis as a side effect of intravenous immunoglobulin treatment]

Three patients with immune-mediated polyneuropathies developed rash, eczema, whole body scaling, vesicles in hands and loss of hair a few days after infusion of large doses of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The condition was diagnosed as exfoliative dermatitis. Two out of three patients were afterwards treated with low doses of IVIG slowly increased over a year given under the protection of oral steroids. Our findings indicate that exfoliative dermatitis can be provoked by IVIG treatment, and that the treatment can be reinstalled by slowly increasing the IVIG dose under steroid cover.