Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of sirolimus-based immunosuppression vs. conventional prophylaxis therapy in preventing cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection or disease in liver transplantation recipients.
Methods: One hundred and twenty-seven consecutive liver transplant recipients, with a minimum of one-yr follow-up from 2008 to 2013 in the first affiliated hospital of Nanchang University, were retrospectively divided into the sirolimus-treated (n = 51) and ganciclovir-treated (n = 76) groups. The CMV incidence, rejection events, and survival rate were compared.
Results: The overall incidences of CMV events were decreased but did not reach statistical significance in the sirolimus arm compared with the ganciclovir arm (p > 0.05) at one yr after liver transplantation. There was no significant difference in the rejection incidence and survival rates between the two groups.
Conclusions: Sirolimus-based immunosuppression had a lower incidence of CMV infection compared with conventional prophylaxis therapy and did not increase rejection risks and mortality after liver transplantation, indicating that with the use of an mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR)-inhibitor, CMV prophylaxis may be dispensable.
Keywords: cytomegalovirus; effect; liver transplantation; prophylaxis therapy; sirolimus.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.