Intravenous immunoglobulin: an emerging treatment for immune-mediated skin diseases.

Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIgs) exert a variety of immunomodulating activities and are therefore increasingly being used for the treatment of immune-mediated as well as autoimmune diseases. Although the exact mode of action is still poorly understood, the efficacy of IVIg in several diseases, such as thrombocytopenic pupura and Kawasaki disease, has been proven in clinical trials. According to some uncontrolled clinical studies and many case reports there is evidence for a high efficacy of IVIg in the treatment of skin diseases such as autoimmune blistering diseases, lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, toxic epidermal necrolysis, atopic dermatitis, chronic autoimmune urticaria and others. In contrast to other commonly used immunomodulating therapeutic strategies, the safety profile of IVIg treatment is significantly better. This update aims to give a current view on the efficacy and safety of IVIg treatment for dermatological diseases.