The effect of the dosage of steroids on the incidence of cytomegalovirus infections in renal transplant recipients.

In a retrospective survey of 92 cadaver renal transplant recipients, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections were detected in 23 of 34 (68 per cent) patients treated with high doses of steroids but in only 27 of 58 (47 per cent) patients given low doses. Pretransplant blood transfusions were associated with both an improvement in one-year allograft survival-rates (P less than 0.05) and an increase in the incidence of CMV infections. When standardised for any transfusion effect, the incidence of CMV infections was significantly higher in those patients given high doses of steroids (P less than 0.05). In the same group of patients, moreover, CMV infections were associated with a statistically significant increase in the renal allograft survival-rate (P = 0.03).