Objective-To report on four patients with autoimmune disorders who developed acute myocardial infarction (MI) during or soon after treatment with high dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) and to determine the clinical profile of patients prone to this complication. Methods-The clinical history of the four patients is reported with details concerning age, sex, indication for IVIG treatment, risk factors, timing of the MI and outcome. The relevant medical literature has been reviewed. Results-The patients, three men and one woman, aged 42-67, received IVIG treatment for diVerent autoimmune disorders. All had a history of atherosclerosis or previous risk factors such as hypertension, stroke, hyperlipidaemia and obesity. Two of the patients suVered a MI after the first infusion of IVIG while the others-after the 5th and 15th pulses. MI occurred during the infusion in two patients and after a few days in the others. All the patients recovered from the acute event. These observations are in concert with sporadic cases of IVIG related thrombosis reported in the medical literature. Conclusion-In patients with vascular risk factors such as old age, hypertension, history of stroke or coronary artery disease, the possibility of IVIG related vascular complications should be considered and IVIG prescribed with a cautious reweighted risk/benefit consideration. (Ann Rheum Dis 2000;59:77-80) High dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment is being increasingly used in a wide range of autoimmune disorders such as Kawasaki, 1 neuroimmunological disorders, [2][3][4] dermatomyositis, 5 vasculitis 6 immune cytopenia and other conditions. 7 8 IVIG have been considered a safe medication, with minor adverse events such as headache, nausea and myalgias, occurring in less than 10% of patients.9 10 With the wider use of IVIG, the reported rate of side eVects has increased, 11 some of them being potentially fatal. 12We describe four patients with autoimmune disorders who developed acute myocardial infarction (MI) a few days after receiving IVIG. Case reports CASE 1The patient is a 60 year old man with relapsing polychondritis of three years duration manifesting as extreme fatigue, recurrent episodes of chondritis of the ears, hoarseness, livedo reticularis, migratory arthritis and myalgias, episcleritis and vestibular neuropathy with vertigo and sensorineural deafness. He had documented arterial hypertension for the past two years. Laboratory tests disclosed an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (120 mm 1st h) and normocytic normochromic anaemia (Hb 10 g/dl). Immunological tests including anticardiolipin antibodies were negative. The patient was initially treated (at another centre) with prednisone (1 mg/kg) and monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide (800 mg/m 2 ), but repeated attempts to lower the prednisone dose below 25 mg/d resulted in acute exacerbations. Parenteral methotrexate 30 mg/week was prescribed. During this treatment he developed right hemiparesis with evidence of cerebral lacunar infarction on...

The choice of a rituximab-based regimen and the prognostic significance of interim 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) in primary mediastinal large B cell lymphoma (PMBCL) are debatable. We evaluated the clinical features and outcomes of 95 consecutive patients with PMBCL who were treated between 1985 and 2009. Forty-three patients received rituximab-based chemotherapy, R-VACOP-B (N = 30) or R-CHOP21 (N = 13), whereas 52 patients were treated with VACOP-B (N = 47) or CHOP21 (N = 5). Radiotherapy was not given. Patients who received rituximab had a 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) of 79 % and overall survival (OS) of 97 % compared with 58 % (p = 0.06) and 88 % (p = 0.2), respectively, without rituximab. Five-year PFS in patients treated with R-VACOP-B, R-CHOP21, VACOP-B, and CHOP21 were 83, 69, 62, and 20 %, respectively (p = 0.039). However, direct comparison showed that the difference between PFS rates in patients receiving R-VACOP-B compared to R-CHOP21 was not statistically significant (p = 0.3). None of the standard clinical risk factors predicted for PFS and OS in patients receiving rituximab (R)-chemotherapy. Mid-interim FDG-PET/CT scans were performed in 30/43 patients who received R-chemotherapy. The negative predictive values of mid-PET activity were high (100 % for R-VACOP-B and 86 % for R-CHOP21) while the positive predictive values (PPV) were relatively low (30 and 75 %, respectively). Despite the low PPV, the 5-year PFS for mid-PET-negative patients (N = 16) was significantly higher (94 %) than that for mid-PET-positive (N = 14) patients (57 %, p = 0.015). This retrospective analysis demonstrates that the superiority of VACOP-B over CHOP21 for treatment of PMBCL disappeared once rituximab was added. The potential benefit of using interim PET activity as a guide for continuing therapy in patients with PMBCL remains unclear due to the relatively low PPV.

We present a 72-year-old patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). About a year following therapy with chlorambucil and prednisone, he suffered from anemia, thrombocytopenia and organomegaly. The patient received fludarabine with a favorable response. Concomitantly with the clinical improvement of the CLL there was a remarkable flare-up of scalp squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) lesions, initially noted 4 years previously. The lesions were multiple and grew rapidly.

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