Drug therapy in the heart transplant recipient: part II: immunosuppressive drugs.

Part I of this series describes the mechanisms and types of rejection and the intravenous immunosuppressive drugs commonly used for induction or antirejection therapy. In this article, we review the commonly used oral immunosuppressive drugs. Intravenous corticosteroid methylprednisolone is included in the discussion of corticosteroids. Table 1 gives trade names, pharmacology, necessary adjustments for renal or hepatic dysfunction, and dosing and general monitoring guidelines for drugs described in this section. Table 2 lists the major adverse effects of immunosuppressive drugs described in Parts I and II of this review and provides an estimate of their relative frequency.