Suppression of CMV Infection with Letermovir in a Kidney Transplant Patient

Abstract

Infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV) with resistance to ganciclovir (GCV) is a therapeutic challenge in kidney transplant patients, because standard treatment options are nephrotoxic. We report the case of a kidney transplant recipient with GCV-resistant CMV disease, in whom letermovir, a novel inhibitor of CMV packaging, was administered off-label and prevented a relapse of disease once the CMV load was decreased by cidofovir. Furthermore, we observed significant drug interactions between letermovir and tacrolimus.

Keywords

• cytomegalovirus,
• kidney transplantation
• ul97 mutation
• antiviral resistance
• letermovir