Intravenous immunoglobulin (
IVIg) treatment is shown to be effective in a selected group of patients with a chronic inflammatory demyelinating
polyneuropathy (
CIDP). The proportion of patients that improve after
IVIg treatment varies between studies. Because 40% of a group of
IVIg treated
CIDP patients needed intermittent
IVIg infusions to maintain their improved clinical condition, it is expected that
IVIg is effective, at least in this subgroup of patients. However, the proportion of patients that improve after
IVIg is highly dependent on the selection of patients. Patients with signs and symptoms of an active disease and clear involvement of both arms and legs appear to have the highest chance of improvement after
IVIg treatment, but additional or prospective studies are needed to verify these criteria. Results obtained from small numbers of patients treated in open studies suggest that
CIDP patients with a
monoclonal gammopathy may also improve after
IVIg treatment. Further studies are required to evaluate the prognostic factors for improvement after
IVIg treatment in
CIDP patients and to compare the efficacy and safety of
IVIg with other long-term treatment regimes. New studies should also focus on the mechanism of
IVIg treatment in patients with
CIDP.