The use of a cyclosporin-ketoconazole combination: making renal transplantation affordable in developing countries.

Objectives: The costs of immunosuppressive drugs in renal transplant recipients remains prohibitively high. Ketoconazole (KZ) has, in limited studies, been shown to significantly reduce the dose of cyclosporin (CyA) after renal transplantation. We report our long-term experience with the use of KZ in a large group of renal transplant recipients.

Experience with the use of an iron polymaltose (dextrin) complex given by single total dose infusion to stable chronic haemodialysis patients.

Background: Many studies of anaemia in patients on chronic haemodialysis have noted a high prevalence of iron deficiency despite oral iron supplementation. Our study examined the effect of intravenous iron given as bolus replacement. As the majority of these patients were not receiving concurrent recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) it allowed an analysis of the safety and efficacy of intravenous iron as a single agent.