title: Ganciclovir treatment of cytomegalovirus disease in transplant recipients and other immunocompromised hosts.
abstract: Thirty-one immunocompromised patients with severe cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease were treated with intravenous ganciclovir. Twenty-one patients had received transplants--15 bone marrow recipients, five renal allograft recipients, and one liver transplant recipient--while the other ten were immunocompromised due to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (six), hematologic malignancies (three), and systemic lupus erythematosus (one). They presented with one or more of the following syndromes: CMV pneumonitis (19), CMV of the gastrointestinal tract (six), CMV retinitis (seven), and CMV hepatitis (three). Seventeen (55%) of 31 patients demonstrated clinical improvement during ganciclovir therapy, with the best response seen in the transplant recipients. Viremia ceased in 14 (93.3%) of 15 patients after a mean of 4.7 days of therapy; viruria ceased in eight (53.3%) of 15 patients after a mean of 11 days of therapy. Ganciclovir plasma concentrations at a dosage of 2.5 mg/kg/three times a day were as follows: mean peak, 16.04 mumol/L; mean trough, 2.38 mumol/L. Neutropenia occurred in 11 (35%) of 31 patients and in nine (60%) of 15 bone marrow transplant recipients. We conclude that ganciclovir exerted an antiviral effect against CMV and may play a role in the treatment of CMV disease in patients with depressed immunity, especially bone marrow and organ transplant recipients.
mesh_terms: D000212:Acyclovir / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D015774:Ganciclovir; D006801:Humans; D007154:Immune System Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D007223:Infant; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000188:drug therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015774:Ganciclovir; D000212:Acyclovir