[HTML][HTML] Risks and benefits of weaning immunosuppression in liver transplant recipients: long-term follow-up

GV Mazariegos, J Reyes, I Marino, B Flynn… - Transplantation …, 1997 - ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
GV Mazariegos, J Reyes, I Marino, B Flynn, JJ Fung, TE Starzl
Transplantation proceedings, 1997ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The Morbidity arising from the chronic use of anti-rejection medications is an incentive to
establish the lowest possible level of immunosuppression necessary to maintain stable graft
function. The finding that freedom from immunosuppression was sporadically possible in
longsurviving recipients of liver allografts and the concurrent evidence that chimerism was
uniformly demonstrable in such tolerant patients1 have led to a prospective trial of complete
drug weaning. In our initial experience, it was shown that significant reductions in …
The Morbidity arising from the chronic use of anti-rejection medications is an incentive to establish the lowest possible level of immunosuppression necessary to maintain stable graft function. The finding that freedom from immunosuppression was sporadically possible in longsurviving recipients of liver allografts and the concurrent evidence that chimerism was uniformly demonstrable in such tolerant patients1 have led to a prospective trial of complete drug weaning. In our initial experience, it was shown that significant reductions in medication or their discontinuance could be safely accomplished in liver, 2 and even in a handful of livingrelated kidney recipients who have been drug free for as long as 30 years. 3 However, the danger of consequent allograft rejection has not been completely assessed and guidelines for judicious weaning need to be clarified. We present here further follow-up on our previously reported weaning trial in liver allograft recipients2 and results from additional patients subsequently entered.
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