INFECTIONS IN PEDIATRIC LIVER RECIPIENTS TREATED FOR ACUTE REJECTION

Murine monoclonal antibody OKT3 (orthoclone OKT3), is a powerful immunosuppressant and has been shown to be very effective in reversal of acute rejection following kidney, liver and heart transplants.1-3 As with any kind of immunosuppression, one would expect that use of OKT3 might be associated with increased incidence of infections. However, there have been only a few detailed studies of infections following the use of OKT3 and even fewer comparing them to infections that occur when steroids only were the mainstay of anti-rejection therapy.4,5 Hence we undertook a detailed retrospective review of infections that occurred in children receiving OKT3 for hepatic allograft rejection and compared them to infections that occurred in a similar group of children whose rejection was treated with steroids only.