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ABSTRACT The efficacy and safety of oral valganciclovir was compared to ganciclovir i.v. in pre-emptive treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in T-cell-depleted allogeneic stem cell transplant
(allo-SCT) recipients. A therapeutic guideline was developed to allow the safe application of valganciclovir in allo-SCT recipients requiring CMV therapy. In total, 107 consecutive
transplant recipients were evaluated. Cytomegalovirus DNA load in plasma was monitored longitudinally; details on antiviral therapy and treatment responses were analyzed retrospectively.
Fifty-seven CMV treatment episodes were recorded in 34 patients: 20 with valganciclovir (900 mg twice-daily) and 37 with ganciclovir (5 mg/kg twice-daily). Median CMV DNA load reduction was
0.079 and 0.069 log10 copies/ml/day in the ganciclovir and valganciclovir group, respectively. Good response on CMV DNA load (reduction below 3.0 log10 copies/ml) was observed in 75.7% of
ganciclovir and 80.0% of valganciclovir treatment episodes. Severe adverse effects were not observed and CMV-related disease did not occur. However, the percentage of patients receiving
erythrocyte transfusion was higher in the group of patients receiving ganciclovir as compared to valganciclovir (41 versus 20%, _P_=0.116). In conclusion, pre-emptive treatment with
valganciclovir and ganciclovir, led to similar reduction of CMV DNA load. Oral valganciclovir is an attractive and safe alternative for pre-emptive CMV treatment in T-cell-depleted allo-SCT
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customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS LETERMOVIR FOR CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION IN PEDIATRIC PATIENTS UNDERGOING ALLOGENIC HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION: A
REAL-LIFE STUDY BY THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES WORKING GROUP OF ITALIAN ASSOCIATION OF PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY-ONCOLOGY (AIEOP) Article 25 January 2024 NEW TRENDS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF
CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION AFTER ALLOGENEIC HEMATOPOIETIC CELL TRANSPLANTATION: A SURVEY OF THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES WORKING PARY OF EBMT Article 17 November 2022 EFFICACY OF PROPHYLACTIC
LETERMOVIR FOR CYTOMEGALOVIRUS REACTIVATION IN HEMATOPOIETIC CELL TRANSPLANTATION: A MULTICENTER REAL-WORLD DATA Article 02 November 2020 REFERENCES * Razonable RR . Epidemiology of
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189: 1355–1361. Article CAS Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There was no financial support and no conflicts of interest are reported. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes *
P L J van der Heiden and J S Kalpoe: Both authors contributed equally to this paper. AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The
Netherlands P L J van der Heiden, R M Barge & R Willemze * Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands J S Kalpoe & A C M Kroes *
Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands E F Schippers Authors * P L J van der Heiden View author publications You can also search for
this author inPubMed Google Scholar * J S Kalpoe View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * R M Barge View author publications You can also search
for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * R Willemze View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * A C M Kroes View author publications You can also
search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * E F Schippers View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to E
F Schippers. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE van der Heiden, P., Kalpoe, J., Barge, R. _et al._ Oral valganciclovir as pre-emptive
therapy has similar efficacy on cytomegalovirus DNA load reduction as intravenous ganciclovir in allogeneic stem cell transplantation recipients. _Bone Marrow Transplant_ 37, 693–698 (2006).
https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705311 Download citation * Received: 15 November 2005 * Revised: 16 January 2006 * Accepted: 16 January 2006 * Published: 27 February 2006 * Issue Date: 01
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link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * cytomegalovirus * ganciclovir *
valganciclovir * pre-emptive treatment * allogeneic stem cell transplantation * CMV DNA load