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Letermovir for prevention of cytomegalovirus infection in allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients
Published 2023-08-17
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2023 Fabian Herrera, Diego Torres, Marcia Querci, Pablo Bonvehí, Elena Temporiti, Patricio Duarte, Cristina Videla, Leandro Riera
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remains the most common clinically significant infection after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (aSCT), with a high morbidity and mortality rate. In order to reduce its frequency, prevention strategies should be implemented.
Aim: To describe the frequency of infection, clinically significant infection (CSI) and CMV disease in seropositive patients who received aSCT and primary prophylaxis with letermovir.
Methods: Longitudinal descriptive cohort study in seropositive patients who received aSCT and primary prophylaxis with letermovir until day 100 post-SCT.
Results: Twenty-five adult patients with a median age of 41 years were included; 44% were unrelated donors, and 36% were haploidentical donors. Eighty percent had three or more risk factors for CMV infection, and 52% were stratified as high risk for CMV disease. Letermovir prophylaxis had a median duration of 97 days. Twenty percent of the patients developed CMV infection through day 100 post-SCT, with detectable non-quantifiable CMV viral load in plasma. This became negative in the following weekly control without discontinuation of letermovir. No patient developed CSI or CMV organ disease during this period.
Conclusion: Letermovir prophylaxis proved to be effective in preventing CSI and CMV disease.