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PHARMACY UPDATE |
Correspondence to:
For correspondence:
Katrina A Ford
Pharmacy Department, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK; fordk2@gosh.nhs.uk
Keywords: organ transplantation; immunosuppression; paediatrics; review
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Each year in the United Kingdom approximately 240 children benefit from solid organ transplantation.1 Eleven paediatric centres variously perform kidney, heart, lung, liver and small bowel transplant operations. With current survival data approaching 90% or better at one year for most paediatric transplants, it is probable that at some point, these children will present to their local hospital or general practitioner (GP) for management of non-transplant issues or for shared care. Long term health and survival is dependent on careful adjustment of life long immunosuppressant medication. All of these children will be discharged from hospital on a combination of immunosuppression medications. The aim of immunosuppression is to prevent acute rejection, using a combination of drugs, while avoiding infection and toxicity. The combination of drugs (type and number) will depend on the organ transplanted, the time post-transplant, the patients rejection history, and side effects. There is no "one size fits all"
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