Long-term high-dose immunoglobulin successfully treats LC patients with pulmonary, neurologic, and cardiologic symptoms, 2023, John S Thompson et al

Introduction: Long COVID is the overarching name for a wide variety of disorders that may follow the diagnosis of acute SARS-COVID-19 infection and persist for weeks to many months. Nearly every organ system may be affected.

Methods: We report nine patients suffering with Long COVID for 101 to 547 days. All exhibited significant perturbations of their immune systems, but only one was known to be immunodeficient prior to the studies directed at evaluating them for possible treatment. Neurological and cardiac symptoms were most common. Based on this data and other evidence suggesting autoimmune reactivity, we planned to treat them for 3 months with long-term high-dose immunoglobulin therapy. If there was evidence of benefit at 3 months, the regimen was continued.

Results: The patients’ ages ranged from 34 to 79 years—with five male and four female patients, respectively. All nine patients exhibited significant immune perturbations prior to treatment. One patient declined this treatment, and insurance support was not approved for two others. The other six have been treated, and all have had a significant to remarkable clinical benefit.

Conclusion: Long-term high-dose immunoglobulin therapy is an effective therapeutic option for treating patients with Long COVID
uction: Long COVID is the overarching name for a wide variety of disorders that may follow the diagnosis of acute SARS-COVID-19 infection and persist for weeks to many months. Nearly every organ system may be affected.

Methods: We report nine patients suffering with Long COVID for 101 to 547 days. All exhibited significant perturbations of their immune systems, but only one was known to be immunodeficient prior to the studies directed at evaluating them for possible treatment. Neurological and cardiac symptoms were most common. Based on this data and other evidence suggesting autoimmune reactivity, we planned to treat them for 3 months with long-term high-dose immunoglobulin therapy. If there was evidence of benefit at 3 months, the regimen was continued.

Results: The patients’ ages ranged from 34 to 79 years—with five male and four female patients, respectively. All nine patients exhibited significant immune perturbations prior to treatment. One patient declined this treatment, and insurance support was not approved for two others. The other six have been treated, and all have had a significant to remarkable clinical benefit.

Conclusion: Long-term high-dose immunoglobulin therapy is an effective therapeutic option for treating patients with Long COVID

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1033651/full

 

Tiny cohort, no control group, these people might have improved to the same level with no immunoglobulin therapy for all we, or the researchers, know.

 

Six patients for three months. Six.

For how long again? Three months? In what fantasy world is three months "long term"? I think of long term from the patients' perspective, which means years. I'm not sure three years qualifies as long term. Maybe. Thirty does; thirty would qualify.

Three months is barely enough time for a blip. Wait another six months and I'd wager we'd see that blip get erased by the - how many? six? - patients' homeostasis which have chronic characteristics that subsume blips like morning cornflakes.

 

I agree with you. But for people who don't have ME and have never had a chronic illness three months might be a long time. After all, the worst thing that has happened to a lot of people before Covid was getting a cold which they recovered from in a week or two.

 

What are case reports if not a trial run for a clinical trial? Besides, I am a bit familiar with this sort of NIH group think. Three months is like code for long-term. If this were an abx treatment RCT, three months is a lock for whatever result they want.

 

This is good news in that this could lead to a bigger trial.

 

Problems with this study aside, it would be interesting to know if the pwLC for 547 days, and others with longer term or significant durations remained in the trial, and how well they did.

 

Tiny cohort, but I welcome case reports and trials on IVG treatment for LC and ME/CFS, as a hyperimmune response has long been suggested as the cause by neurology and immunology. To my recollection, it's also the first time reading about immunodeficiency being linked to either condition, even though immunocompromised people are more suspectable to suffering from serious illnesses (neurological) from catching typical illnesses such as flu. Hopefully, more research will follow in this area.