Is intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) efficacious in early pregnancy failure?
Clark DA; Coulam CB; Stricker RB Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. clarkd@mcmaster.ca PROBLEM: Intravenous Immunoglobulins (IVIG) are widely used off label in the treatment of early reproductive failure. As IVIG is expensive, and may have side-effects, evidence of efficacy is needed. Previous results have suggested that the pre-conception treatment of primary recurrent abortion patients might be effective, but the data set has been too small for adequate statistical power. More recently it has been suggested that IVIG may improve the success rate of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF) in patients with prior IVF failures, but clinical trials have given conflicting results that need explanation. Systematic reviews generating inconclusive results have focused on methodological rigor to the exclusion of biological plausibility. METHODS: Review of current basic science of design, measurement, and evaluation of clinical trials and basic scie
