Correlation between body mass index and leucopenia after administration of valganciclovir for cytomegalovirus infection in Chinese cardiac recipients

I. Ming Chen, Hsiao Huang Chang, Chiao Po Hsu, Shiau Ting Lai, Yuan Chen Hsieh, Chun Che Shih

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Valganciclovir (VGC) has recently been proved efficacious for the prophylaxis and treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in transplant recipients. Leucopenia is a troublesome complication of VGC but the possible risk factors are unknown. Methods and Results: Once a cardiac recipient's quantitative real-time CMV-polymerase chain reaction result showed positive, VGC was administered for 3 months. The 61 cardiac recipients enrolled in this study were divided into 2 groups: non-leucopenia group (n=29) and leucopenia group (n=32). The white blood cell (WBC) counts in the leucopenia group dropped approximately 55.6% in the first month after VGC therapy (pre-VGC WBC count: 5,544 cells/mm3 vs post-VGC WBC count: 2,460 cells/mm3, p<0.0001). The most significant difference between the 2 groups was body mass index (BMI, 23.04 vs 25.84, p=0.008), which was the impact factor of VGC-induced leucopenia. Conclusion: Severe leucopenia may develop after VGC therapy in Chinese cardiac recipients, especially those with lower BMI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)968-972
Number of pages5
JournalCirculation Journal
Volume71
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 4 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cardiac transplant
  • Cytomegalovirus
  • Leucopenia
  • Valganciclovir

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine

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