Cyclosporine-Induced Sympathetic Activation and Hypertension after Heart Transplantation

GYCLOSPORINE is a novel immunosuppressive agent that has greatly enhanced long-term survival after organ transplantation 1 and has proved beneficial in the treatment of many autoimmune diseases. 2 3 4 5 However, cyclosporine has also produced a new form of hypertension. 1 , 6 , 7 The hypertensive effect of cyclosporine has been demonstrated most vividly in heart-transplant recipients, in whom the incidence of hypertension has increased from less than 20 percent in the precyclosporine era to more than 90 percent currently. 1 , 8 9 10 This hypertension typically is moderate to severe and often requires treatment with a number of antihypertensive agents. Thus, hypertension has become one of the most important problems in . . .