Intravenous gamma globulin for treatment of chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura in children.

A prospective and descriptive study was carried out in 17 children with chronic ITP. Five-day course of Intraglobin (400 mg/kg/d x 5) was given intravenously to 10 children with the age of 4-16 years (5 males and 5 females). Two-day course of Venoglobulin-I (1 g/kg/d x 2) was given intravenously to 7 children with the age of 3-15 years (3 males and 4 females). Intraglobin and Venoglobulin-I were effective in treating children with chronic ITP. All of the patients had transient increased in their platelet counts during the first 2 weeks. The two-day course of Venoglobulin-I was superior to the five-day course of Intraglobin. Mild adverse effects were observed in a greater percentage of patients treated by Venoglobulin-I than in patients treated by Intraglobin. Intravenous immunoglobulin was one of the choices of treatment in children with chronic ITP, but the cost of immunoglobulin or gamma globulin is quiet high.