Ganciclovir therapy of symptomatic cytomegalovirus infection in renal transplant recipients

We used ganciclovir to treat 11 renal transplant recipients with symptomatic cytomegalovirus infection (seven primary), including one severe, five mild and five moderate cases. Two patients exhibited a non-mechanically ventilated pneumonitis and two others a gastrointestinal involvement. Ganciclovir was used intravenously according to a schedule which took into account renal function, for a median time of 14 days. All patients survived. Cytomegalovirus infection was cured in all patients but two: in the first an early clinical relapse required a second successful ganciclovir course; in the other graftectomy was needed to control infection. Graft was lost in an additional cured patient. Ganciclovir was well tolerated, especially with regard to haematological status. At the current follow-up of at least one month after the end of ganciclovir therapy, no further clinical relapse was observed; however, in one clinically cured patient cytomegalovirus was isolated from blood one week after ganciclovir cessation. These encouraging preliminary data suggest that ganciclovir therapy should be started as soon as cytomegalovirus infection is suspected, especially in cytomegalovirus seronegative recipients receiving a seropositive graft.