Does the proper intravenous immunoglobulin substitution in primary immunodeficiency protect against HBV infections?: a description of a case series.

There are no recommendations concerning preoperative management of primary immunodeficiency patients in cases of emergency or planned surgery in relation to risk of hepatitis type B virus infection. To assess if immunodeficient patients regularly supplemented with immunoglobulins are protected against hepatitis B. IgG, IgM and IgA total levels and anti-HBs level were estimated in adult patients with primary humoral immunodeficiency before and after immunoglobulins supplementation according to a standardized schedule. Serum IgG and anti-HBs level significantly increased after immunoglobulin supplementation. Anti-HBs titer increased in all cases over 100 IU/L regardless of initial total IgG serum value, reaching a highly protective level. There was no correlation between increase in concentration of IgG (DeltaIgG) versus Deltaanti-HBs in the studied patients. Patients with primary hypogammaglobulinemia supplemented with immunoglobulin are protected against hepatitis type B.