Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most important single pathogen that affects transplant recipients. The type and degree of immunosuppression influence the CMV risk. Early diagnosis and management is crucial in controlling the infection. We retrospectively studied CMV infection among our kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from 1994 till 2006, we included 1850 consecutive KTR for detection and monitoring of CMV disease by CMV pp65 antigenemia assay (AA) test. All our patients we treated with intravenous gancyclovir for 21 days. Patients were followed after treatment with CMV pp65 AA as the main laboratory test for viral detection along with CMV IgM and IgG.
Results: A total number of 126 patients (4.8%) had positive CMV antige. In this population, 107 patients (5.8%) had normal kidney function, 14 (3%) were on dialysis treatment and 5 (1.7%) eventually died. In patients with normal kidney function CMV infection caused a decrease in renal function (p value =0.002). CMV infection in renal transplant patients has the potential to significantly decrease renal function and affect transplant outcome. For this reason prophylaxis with gancyclovir and early diagnosis and treatment is strongly recommended.