Combination protocols for prevention of CMV disease in the high risk transplant patient

Overall, the results seen in this study are encouraging. In this high-risk group of patients where the expected disease rate would normally be at least 55% to 60% without prophylaxis, a combination protocol of GCV, ACV, and CMVIG limited the rate of disease to 19%. When disease occurred, it was generally mild and easily treatable. While stratification of patients according to organ transplant group and donor/recipient serology may help to better define future protocol designs, the combination strategy used in this study has clearly demonstrated its usefulness in the high-risk transplantation population.