The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7289 p272
6 March 2004

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European Respiratory Journal (more)

Aerosol ciclosporin improves lung transplant survival

Aerosolised ciclosporin, given with conventional immunosuppression to lung transplant patients with bronchiolitis obliterans, provides a survival advantage over conventional therapy alone, US research indicates.

An open-label, case-control study compared 39 transplant recipients who received the aerosol, with 151 controls. The powdered drug was dissolved in propylene glycol (62.5mg/ml) and delivered by jet nebuliser at a dose of 300mg daily for 10 days followed by 300mg three times a week. Maintenance immunosuppression included oral ciclosporin or tacrolimus, azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone.

Median survival was about two years longer in the aerosol group compared with controls, with the trend approaching significance (European Respiratory Journal 2004; 23:384).