Transcript
Current treatment options for CIDP
Eduardo Nobile-Orazio discusses available treatment options for patients with CIDP and associated adverse events. View transcript.
Eduardo Nobile-Orazio, MD, PhD
All transcripts are created from interview footage and directly reflect the content of the interview at the time. The content is that of the speakers and is not adjusted by Medthority.
We're pretty happy with the current treatment. And, we are not fully happy with the current treatment because as I mentioned to you before, not all patients, but you know, if we look at the Italian registry, we have, excluding the patients that are so mild that you don't think it's necessary to it, a patient with just sensory symptoms and they're not moderately affected or they're mildly affected. You know, IVIG or 85% to 90% of patients treated respond well to it. So, I think we have a pretty good, but you know, we have some problems. We have some patients who might become resistant to IVIG so you have to increase.
Patient might be bothered by the fact of coming to hospital on a monthly basis or, you know, you might suggest them to take a subcutaneous immunoglobulin so they should do that at home. Steroids, it's difficult to have patient taking steroids for a longer period of time, so, you know, because of the side effects. There was people who was allergic to the IVIG and then we found that it was not IVIG but the excipient that you have in IVIG, so that is something. So of course you have to monitor the patient at the beginning, that is a good thing too, the good thing is to do it, to initially treat the patient at home. You know, steroids are widely used so you should know what are the side effects. So if you take steroids, you know that the patient might not sleep at night, might become hyperactive or manic or get ulcers. Or if they have diabetes that they might have a complication of diabetes.
So these are all things you have to consider. But these are mainly related. It is not like a Guillain-Barre syndrome that you might be worried that you start to treat the patient and the patient stop to breathe because of the disease's state going on. We do not have these things in CIDP, you have time to watch a patient and know the side effects of the therapy and be ready to face them if they come out. The main goal of the new therapy should be addressed to patients who fail to respond to conventional therapy, say IVIG, steroids, and in case of a successful plasma change. But according from the studies they perform, that publish or that come out at congress, this new therapy seems to be promising.
This content has been developed independently by Medthority who previously received educational funding from argenx in order to help provide its healthcare professional members with access to the highest quality medical and scientific information, education and associated relevant content.