Comparison of prophylactic use of intravenous immunoglobulin versus Pentaglobin® in pediatric patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

There are few studies evaluating the use of IgM-enriched IVIG (Pentaglobin (R)) in HSCT recipients. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of prophylactic use of IVIG versus prophylactic use of Pentaglobin (R) within the first 100 days after allogeneic HSCT. We performed a prospective, randomized study of the use of prophylactic IVIG versus prophylactic use of Pentaglobin (R) in patients after allogeneic HSCT. The first dose of IVIG or Pentaglobin (R) was given before conditioning regimen and after transplant was given on day +1, +8, +15, and +22. And then, it was given if IgG level was below 400 mg/dL. Twenty-seven patients in IVIG group and 32 patients in Pentaglobin (R) group were included in the study. There were no significant differences in the duration of neutropenia, hospitalization, fever, and in the number of pyrexial episode, septicemia, bacteremia, local infection, CMV infection, acute GVHD, VOD, and adverse events between the IVIG group and Pentaglobin (R) group. Randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed to conclude that utilization of IVIG or Pentaglobin (R) has no beneficial effect in HSCT.