Failure of adjunctive cytomegalovirus intravenous immune globulin to improve efficacy of ganciclovir in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and cytomegalovirus retinitis: a phase 1 study.

Six men with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, treated with combined ganciclovir induction therapy and hyperimmune globulin (CMV-IGIV) for 10 days followed by CMV-IGIV alone, had a median time to retinitis progression shorter (7 days) than had eight historical controls given ganciclovir maintenance therapy (54 days; P = 0.06) and similar to that in eight controls given ganciclovir for 10 days only (19 days; P = 0.97). CMV-IGIV, which also failed to inhibit CMV replication in blood and urine, did not appear to add markedly to the efficacy of ganciclovir in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated CMV retinitis.