Cyclosporine and Immunosuppressive Regimens in Renal Transplantation

To the Editor: Hall et al. have recently reported on a trial of immunosuppressive drugs in renal transplantation that compares a short-term cyclosporine protocol (three months of cyclosporine followed by conversion to prednisolone and azathioprine) with the traditional long-term cyclosporine and azathioprine–prednisolone protocols.¹ They observed equivalent allograft survival rates in all groups, but the patients who were given short-term cyclosporine had significantly lower serum creatinine levels than those in the long-term cyclosporine group. We have a number of concerns about the interpretation of these data and their application to current practice. Some patients in each of the treatment groups had.