Cyclosporin A and steroid therapy in sixty-six cadaver kidney recipients.
From nine to 18 months ago, 66 patients were given 67 randomly matched cadaveric kidneys with cyclosporin A and steroid therapy. Nine of the recipients were undergoing retransplantation. The over-all kidney survival rate to date has been 77.6 per cent, and 78.8 per cent of the recipients are dialysis-free. The patient mortality in this learning phase was 13.3 per cent. Nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and other side-effects of cyclosporin A could usually be dealt with by dosage adjustments, making feasible the chronic use of this agent. One B-cell immunoblastic sarcoma was encountered which was monoclonal. It was not responsible for death. Another patient had a perforation of the intestine from a lympho-proliferative reaction in which the B cells were polyclonal. After jejunal resection a year ago, there were no further complications. This lesion was not classified as a lymphoma. Both lympho-proliferative lesions were associated with a rise in antibody to viral capsid antigen of Epstein-Barr virus. Results of this study have verified the effectiveness and relative safety of cyclosporin A with steroids for immunosuppression in human recipients of cadaveric kidneys.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D002102:Cadaver; D003524:Cyclosporins / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000187:drug effects; D006085:Graft Survival; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D003524:Cyclosporins; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D011241:Prednisone