Introduction Cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation is one of the main problems in allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Standard of care for CMV-disease is still ganciclovir at 10 mg/kg b.i.d. Use of non-CMV specific intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is still controversial and mostly determined by internal care protocols in every transplant center. Here we report data about impact of non-CMV specific IVIG during ganciclovir treatment in allo-HSCT CMV-patients.

Patients and methods Thirty two patients with hematological malignancies transplanted in NRCH were included in this study. Detailed patients characteristics are listed in Table 1. All patients were CMV-positive by PCR (Amplisens EBV/ CMV /HHV6-screen-FL", InterLabService, Russia) and required to start therapy with ganciclovir 10 mg/kg when was included to this study. Patients in IVIG group also received non-CMV specific IVIG during ganciclovir treatment with a median total dose 20 g (7.5-90 g.). Kaplan-Meier estimator was used to determine probability of achievement of CMV-negativity from time of ganciclovir was started to CMV-negativity (by PCR) or last contact. The logrank test is used to compare differences between two groups. Fisher's exact test was used for 2×2 tables. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant

Results Influence of IVIG in allo-HSCT patients on probability of achievement of CMV-negativity (by PCR) are shown in the Figure 1. As we can see there is no significant differences on the achievement of CMV-negativity (by PCR) in patients with/without IVIG during ganciclovir therapy.

Conclusion The use of non-CMV specific immunoglobulins after allo-HSCT still lies in the plane of faith and the possibilities of the transplantation center than any evidence base. Using IVIG in patients after allo-HSCT is still not a routine in terms of CMV-reactivation/disease therapy and mostly based on an "experience" of every transplant center. According to our data there is no difference between IVIG/no-IVIG groups during ganciclovir treatment so use of IVIG, for our opinion, does not really make sense for CMV-disease treatment. Anyway a large randomized trial is required for determine indications for therapy with IVIG.

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Disclosures

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Topics:
cytomegalovirus, ganciclovir, immunoglobulins, intravenous, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, allopurinol, polymerase chain reaction, transplantation, cmv reactivation, hematologic neoplasms, immunoglobulins

Author notes

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Asterisk with author names denotes non-ASH members.

© 2018 by The American Society of Hematology
2018
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