Intravenous immunoglobulins for treatment of severe COVID-19-related acute encephalopathy.

Therefore, our case series demonstrates a promising and rapid effect of intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) on otherwise treatment-refractory acute encephalopathy in COVID-19 patients on ICU. Before IVIg therapy, all patients required sedative (benzodiazepines, dexmedetomidine, clonidine, phenobarbital, propofol, esketamine, opiates) and/or neuroleptic or other CNS medication (risperidone, quetiapine, citalopram, amantadine) due to continuous encephalopathy, ongoing ventilation and ICU treatment. This retrospective, single-center case series included 12 patients with critical courses of COVID-19 requiring treatment at ICU, who developed a severe encephalopathy (leading to clinical presentation of hyper- and/or hypoactive delirium [[2]]) of at least 1 week without satisfactory response to neuroleptic drugs and/or even sedatives. After a median of 23 days (range 0-37) after hospital admission due to COVID-19, all patients developed encephalopathy, requiring continuous intravenous sedation in 10 patients (83%, Table 2). [Extracted from the article]