Objective: Preemptive therapy with intravenous ganciclovir and CMV-hyperimmunoglobulin in asymptomatic CMV pp65-antigen positive patients was compared with treatment of only symptomatic CMV-disease after liver transplantation in an open prospective study.
Patients and methods: 48 out of 200 liver transplant recipients became positive during six weeks follow-up after transplantation. 17 out of these 48 patients who were already symptomatic at the time of positive antigen testing were successfully treated with ganciclovir and CMV-hyperimmunoglobulin. 31 asymptomatic antigen-positive patients were randomised to receive preemptive therapy or to receive therapy only at onset of clinical symptoms.
Results: Only two out of 15 patients in this latter group without preemptive therapy developed CMV-syndrome and were successfully treated with intravenous ganciclovir. 13 patients did not experience any clinical symptoms or disease and were therefore spared unneccessary toxicity and costs. The overall incidence of CMV-infection and -disease in the whole study population of 200 liver transplant recipients was 25% and 10%. As expected, CMV-negative patients who received an organ from a seropositive donor were at a higher risk of CMV-infection and -disease, but did not show more severe infections clinically. Patients with IL-2 receptor antibody induction therapy seemed to have a higher risk for CMV-infection and -disease.