In his opinion, the present system seems to work the best, despite several shortcomings. Dr. Bynon also discussed the new immunosuppresants available to prevent rejection of the transplanted liver. Cyclosporine is slowly regaining popularity, particularly with the new oral formulation. There is some preliminary data that cyclosporine may be better than prograf for patients transplanted for hepatitis C, but more research is needed to confirm this preliminary observation. Cell-Cept, a new immunosuppressant is not likely to replace prograf or cyclosporine, but rather, provide one more option for patients who cannot tolerate other immunosuppressants or who are not responding as expected to the medications.
All immunosuppressants have potential side effects and frequent monitoring is essential.
Although blood levels of the different medications are monitored, there is no absolute value that we aim for, in general, the best dose for a given patient is the lowest dose that prevents rejection. The trade name for ribavirin is Rebetol . Because ribavirin is not effective if used alone, it always has to be combined with interferon. Now that we understand all those names, lets talk about what ribavirin is and does. Ribavirin is an anti-viral agent that has been used for several years in other countries to treat other viral diseases.