Kinetics of cytomegalovirus load decrease in solid-organ transplant recipients after preemptive therapy with valganciclovir

The availability of valganciclovir (VGCV) has significantly simplified the treatment of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection after solid-organ transplantation. We show that there was no difference in the kinetics of the decrease in HCMV load after preemptive therapy with VGCV in 22 solid-organ transplant recipients (T-1/2 = 2.16 days), compared with that in 23 patients treated with intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) (T-1/2 = 1.73 days; P = .63). Preemptive therapy with VGCV pro vides control of HCMV replication that is comparable to that achieved with preemptive intravenous therapy with GCV.