This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Single IVIG course beneficial but insufficient for complete remission of solar urticaria

A single course of intravenous immunoglobulins offered clinical benefit for 3 months in more than half of patients with severe and refractory solar urticaria but showed insufficient results for complete and prolonged remission.

Researchers included nine patients with severe and refractory solar urticaria (SU) in a multicentric, phase 3 study to determine the efficacy of a single course of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG). Outcomes included SU remission on phototesting at 12 weeks post-treatment, clinical remission, improved quality of life and 50% improvement in disease intensity.

Two of the nine patients who received a single IVIG treatment showed remission of SU on phototesting, corresponding to a response rate of 22.2% at 12 weeks.

Overall, six patients achieved at least one response criteria at 4 weeks after IVIG treatment and at least five criteria at 12 weeks after treatment.

Two patients maintained response after 24 weeks, and one patient maintained response at 48 weeks.

Adverse events were reported in eight patients; 33% adverse events were considered severe, 39% moderate and 28% were weak, according to the researchers. The most frequent reported adverse event was headache.

Although the primary outcome was not achieved because remission of SU occurred in only two patients, the researchers did observe some clinical benefits. Improved quality of life and decreased severity of SU was observed in two-thirds of the patients at 1 month and in more than half at 3 months, with two patients maintaining benefits from the treatment at 6 months and one benefiting after 1 year.

Disclosures: The researchers have no relevant financial disclosures.