The use of intravenous gamma-globulin for prevention of sepsis in pre-term infants. A controlled clinical trial.

This paper reports a randomized clinical trial to study the effect of an intravenous gamma-globulin preparation to prevent sepsis in pre-term newborn infants. 80 infants were enrolled: 37 of birthweight less than or equal to 1500 g and 43 of birthweight 1501-2000 g. In each group 20 infants received an intravenous preparation of gamma-globulin (0.5 g/kg/wk); the remaining 17 and 20, respectively, served as control cases. No significant differences in the occurrence of sepsis were observed between the group receiving prophylactively intravenous gamma-globulin and the control group. This is particularly evident in infants under intensive care (35% of the total population): in this group 2/3 of sepsis occurred in infants who received IgG. Among the infants with sepsis, the presence of an umbilical artery catheterization represented a significant risk-factor. The post-dose increment of serum IgG did not differ significantly in infants with and without sepsis; the post-dose serum disappearance rate in concentration appears identical in the two groups.