Table 5.

Alternative therapies for CMV disease¹⁵

Parameter	Ganciclovir9	Valganciclovir22	Cidofovir	Foscarnet44
Induction therapy	IV 5 mg/kg for two weeks	900 mg bid for three weeks	5 mg/kg weekly for two weeks	IV 60 mg/kg tid for two weeks
Maintenance therapy	IV 5 mg/kg qd	900 mg qd	IV 5 mg/kg every two weeks	IV 30 mg/kg tid
Advantages	Systemic therapy, oral therapy, long acting implants available	Systemic therapy, oral therapy, low pill burden, convenient dosing	Systemic therapy, least expensive, suppresses exacerbations	Systemic therapy
Adverse effects	Myelosuppressant, large pill burden, Intravenous regimen and infusion related problems, if orally-poor bioavailability	Myelosuppressant	Nephrotoxic, Co-administration with probenicid	Nephrotoxic, electrolyte imbalance, intravenous regimen and infusion-related problems

Abbreviations: IV, intravenous; qd, once a day; bid, twice a day; tid, three times a day.