Pulmonary infections. The Minnesota randomized prospective trial of cyclosporine vs azathioprine-antilymphocyte globulin for immunosuppression in renal allograft recipients.
Nineteen of 224 renal allograft recipients who were prospectively randomized to receive either cyclosporine (n = 117) or azathioprine sodium-antilymphocyte globulin (n = 107) for immunosuppression suffered from one period of pneumonia (14 azathioprine and five cyclosporine recipients); two recipients of azathioprine had two episodes. Four patients in the azathioprine group and one in the cyclosporine group died, for mortalities of 3.7% and 0.85%, respectively. The percentage of pneumonia-free patients at one year was 96.3% in the cyclosporine group while it was 90.8% in the azathioprine group. Nondiabetics, women, and recipients of grafts from living related donors were at a statistically lower risk of developing pneumonia when treated with cyclosporine. Viral (cytomegalovirus), fungal (Candida, Aspergillus), and multibacterial causes of pneumonia each occurred with a similar incidence.
D000328:Adult; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001379:Azathioprine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003524:Cyclosporins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation
D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D003524:Cyclosporins; D001379:Azathioprine