Complex regional pain syndrome treated with intravenous immunoglobulin in a patient with common variable immune deficiency.

INTRODUCTION: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) represents a large heterogeneous group of antibody-deficiency syndromes associated with a wide range of clinical features and a lack of defined causes in the realm of primary immunodeficiencies. Here, we present a case of CVID in a 62-year-old white male patient with a history of longstanding complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

CASE PRESENTATION: His medical history included multiple sinus infections per year and several pneumonias requiring antibiotics. He has had various back surgeries, including a laminectomy at the L4 level 1 year prior to his diagnosis. Thereafter, he underwent four sympathetic nerve blocks with minimal pain relief. Blood chemistries showed a normal white blood cell count with a normal differential, but increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels. Total Ig (Immunoglobulin)G was 611 mg/dL (normal 700-1,600), IgG1 was 425 mg/dL (341-894), IgG2 was 114 mg/dL (171-632), IgG3 was 14.4 mg/dL (18.4-106), and IgG4 was 7.4 mg/dL (2.4-121). IgA was 47 mg/dL (normal 70-400), IgM was 131 mg/dL (40-230), and IgE was 4.5 kU/L (<4.0). He only had 10 of 23 pneumococcal titers in the protective range post-vaccination. Upon treatment of the CVID with intravenous immunoglobulin, the patient's pain levels were significantly decreased and have been maintained for more than 2 years.

CONCLUSION: Therefore, immunoglobulin therapy appears to have been beneficial in the treatment of the patient's symptoms of CRPS, including pain. Additional studies investigating the mechanism by which immunoglobulin therapy may reduce the inflammation and pain of CRPS are needed.