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Hu YN, Lee NY, Roan JN, Hsu CH, Luo CY. High-dose calcineurin inhibitor-free everolimus as a maintenance regimen for heart transplantation may be a risk factor for Pneumocystis pneumonia. Transpl Infect Dis 2017; 19. [PMID: 28425200 DOI: 10.1111/tid.12709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Revised: 12/21/2016] [Accepted: 01/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Everolimus reduces the incidence of cardiac-allograft vasculopathy (CAV) and is less renally toxic than are calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs). We evaluated the safety of CNI-free everolimus for post-heart transplant (HTx) patients. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of 36 consecutive patients who had undergone an HTx between January 2006 and December 2013 in National Cheng Kung University Hospital. All patients initially had been treated with the standard tacrolimus regimen. The Study group-12 patients with CAV, renal impairment, or a history of malignancy-were switched from tacrolimus to everolimus. The Control group consisted of 19 patients who remained on the standard regimen. The target everolimus trough concentration was 8-14 ng/mL. The primary outcome was survival, and the secondary outcomes were bacterial, viral, fungal, and other infections; Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP); and rejection (≥2R). RESULTS During a 53.3±25.6-month follow-up, the survival rate, rejection rate, and number of infections, except for PJP, were not significantly different between the two groups. In the Study group, 6 patients were diagnosed with PJP 33±18.2 months after switching. None of the Control group patients were diagnosed with PJP during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS A high-dose CNI-free everolimus maintenance regimen might yield a higher incidence of post-transplantation PJP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Ning Hu
- Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Nan-Yao Lee
- Division of Infection, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Jun-Neng Roan
- Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital and College of Medicine, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Chi-Hsin Hsu
- Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital and College of Medicine, Tainan, Taiwan.,Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Chwan-Yau Luo
- Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.,Cardiovascular Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
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