Figuring Out When to Stop Anti-CMV Prophylaxis After Lung Transplantation

In a small study, two patterns of polyfunctional cytokine response had a robust correlation with reduced risk for cytomegalovirus disease development.

Lung transplant recipients are at high risk for developing cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease. Current guidelines recommend that all CMV seropositive patients receive at least 6 months of antiviral prophylaxis after transplantation (Transplantation 2013; 96:333). However, consensus about when to stop antiviral therapy is lacking, so that some patients are likely to be undertreated and others overtreated. T-cell responses are critical for CMV immune control, but a peripheral-blood test measuring release of a single cytokine, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), by antigen-stimulated CD8+ T lymphocytes has had limited usefulness in predicting whether CMV disease will develop.

To assess whether polyfunctional immunological profiling of CMV-specific T-cell response…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Figuring Out When to Stop Anti-CMV Prophylaxis After Lung Transplantation

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Reviewing Author