ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the prophylactic efficacy of combination of ganciclovir and acy- clovir or acyclovir alone against cytomegalovirus pneumonia in renal transplant recipients.Methods A to- tal of 217 renal transplant recipient(124 men and 93 women;mean age,32 years;age range,16-72 years) were divided into 3 groups randomly.In 51 cases,acyclovir was taken orally at a dose of 400 mg,3/d,from the third d to 3 months after transplantation.In 74 cases,ganciclovir was administered at a dose of 250 mg/d intravenously from the 21st d to 27th d to replace Acyclovir.In 92 cases,no prophylaxis against eytomegalov- irus pneumonia was performed.All patients were followed 3 months after transplantation.Comparison of the incidence rates of cytomegalovirus pneumonia among the 3 groups was performed using Fisher's exact test. Results Cytomegalovirus pneumonia developed in 20 cases in the 3 groups,including 4 cases(5.4%) in combined use group,2 cases(3.9%)in acyclovir alone group,and 14 cases(15.2%)in control group. Significant difference existed between the 2 experimental and control groups(P＜0.05).However,no signifi- cant difference existed between the 2 experimental groups(P＞0.05).Of the 20 cases,17(85.0%)were cured,and 3 died of respiratory failure.Conclusions Ganciclovir and acyclovir have prophylactic effect a- gainst cytomegalovirus pneumonia in renal transplant recipients.These 2 medications are inexpensive,and the patients have good compliance.