E.08 Subcutaneous vs. intravenous immunoglobulins for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and multifocal motor neuropathy

Background: Background: High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IV-Ig) is an evidence-based treatment for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN). Recently, subcutaneous Ig (SC-Ig) has received increasing attention. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of SC-Ig versus IV-Ig. Methods: Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus from January, 1990 to December, 2015 for publications comparing IV-Ig vs. SC-Ig in patients with CIDP or MMN. We performed fixed-effects meta-analyses for strength changes as measured by the Medical Research Council sum score changes (MRC-SS). Results: Results: A total of 8 studies comprising 138 patients (88 with CIDP and 50 with MMN) were included in the meta-analysis. Considering the total population the use of SC-Ig showed slightly better results for MRC-SS (ES=-1.78, 95%CI=-3.45 to -0.11, I2<0.001%). However, when CIDP and MMN were compared separately, there were no differences between treatments (CIDP: ES=-0.28, 95%CI=-0.57 to 0.02, I2<0.001%; MMN: ES=-0.34, 95%CI=-3.99 to 3.31, I2<0.001%). Conclusions: Conclusions: We found comparable efficacy between SC and IV-Ig administrations for CIDP and MMN. These results suggest that SC-Ig is a suitable alternative treatment method, especially when other situations (e.g. convenience, safety profile) warrant its use. Further studies are needed to explore the efficacy of SC-Ig for CIDP and MMN.