Failure of intraventricular gammaglobulin and alpha interferon for persistent encephalitis in congenital hypogammaglobulinaemia.

A boy with congenital hypogammaglobulinaemia died at the age of 12 years after a viral meningoencephalitis of two and a half years duration due to an untypable picornavirus. He had received intravenous immunoglobulin every four weeks from the time of the start of immunoglobulin replacement treatment at the age of 3 years. The encephalitis did not respond to high dose intravenous gammaglobulin (2500 g during 22 months). The virus could not be isolated during the administration of intraventricular immunoglobulin (38.15 g) and intraventricular recombinant alpha interferon (121 X 10(6) units), but recurred rapidly each time intraventricular treatment was stopped. Further modes of treatment are still required for prevention and treatment of this disorder.