Foscarnet therapy for ganciclovir-refractory cytomegalovirus hepatitis in a patient who underwent bone marrow transplantation from an unrelated donor

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) hepatitis refractory to ganciclovir treatment occurred after prolonged administration of ganciclovir in a 36-year-old woman with chronic myelogeneous leukemia who had undergone allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from an HLA-identical unrelated donor. The number of CMV antigen-positive leukocytes in blood were well correlated with the serum levels of transaminases and the antigenemia assay was useful in monitoring CMV hepatitis. The patient was treated with foscarnet, a potent inhibitor of CMV DNA-polymerase, which led to rapid improvement of the CMV antigenemia and the transaminase concentrations. Foscarnet therapy should be considered for ganciclovir-resistant CMV disease in the setting of BMT.