Marked improvement of Churg-Strauss vasculitis with intravenous gamma globulins during pregnancy.

Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is an extremely rare disease, and even less common in women of childbearing age. Patients with severe disease or those who are un-responsive to corticosteroids are usually treated with cytotoxic drugs, especially cyclophosphmide. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) has became a promising, but not completely accepted, form of treatment for systemic vasculitis that is un-responsive to standard therapy. We report a case of a woman who presented with a CSS flare during pregnancy. Because of mono-neuritis, treatment with IVIg was instituted with successful results. Our case not only supports the beneficial effect of IVIg in CSS, but it also illustrates its successful and safe use in a patient who was pregnant. We discuss the indication of IVIg during the course of anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antigen (ANCA) vasculitis during the pregnancy.