Cytomegalovirus and long-term outcome after lung transplantation in Gothenburg, Sweden

Prophylaxis with ganciclovir has decreased the initially high morbidity related to cytomegalovirus (CMV) after lung transplantation, but the optimal length of prophylaxis and the long-term outcome have not yet been established. The impact of CMV on the short- and long-term outcome was studied in 187 lung transplant recipients in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1990-2002. Among CMV-seronegative patients receiving grafts from seropositive donors (D+/R-), 88% developed CMV disease, 40% if both donor and recipient were CMV-seropositive (D+/R+) and 26% if only the recipient was CMV-seropositive (D-/R+). Among CMV-seropositive recipients (R+) on oral acyclovir prophylaxis, 38% developed CMV disease, as compared with 39% on intravenous ganciclovir for 4 weeks and 28%, on oral ganciclovir for 14 weeks. On average, CMV disease appeared at 41 days in the R+ on acyclovir prophylaxis, at 75 days on 4 weeks of i.v. ganciclovir and at 162 days on 14 weeks of oral ganciclovir. CMV disease was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of developing chronic rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome) at both 1 and 2 y after transplantation. CMV disease also had a significant negative impact on survival, with a 10-y survival of only 32% as compared with 53%, after asymptomatic CMV infection and 57% with no CMV.