Cyclosporine-A as prevention for graft-versus-host disease in pediatric patients undergoing bone marrow transplants

Abstract

Cyclosporine-A is a drug commonly used in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for the prevention of graft-versus-host disease. In the pediatric allogeneic BMT population at The Children's Hospital in Boston, a combination of Cyclosporine-A and Methotrexate is used for graft-versus-host prophylaxis. Graft-versus-host disease, whether acute or chronic, may be fatal. The increasing use of Cyclosporine-A in the pediatric BMT setting demands careful nursing assessment and intervention for Cyclosporine-A toxicity and related side effects.