Adenovirus in solid organ transplant recipients: Guidelines from the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Diseases Community of Practice

Abstract

These updated guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Community of Practice of the American Society of Transplantation review the diagnosis, prevention, and management of adenovirus infections after solid organ transplantation. Adenovirus is an important cause of infectious complications in both stem cell transplant and SOT patients, causing a range of clinical syndromes including pneumonitis, colitis, and disseminated disease. The current update of the guidelines highlights that adenovirus surveillance testing should not be performed in asymptomatic recipients. Serial quantitative PCR might play a role in the decision to initiate or assess response to therapy in a symptomatic patient. The initial and most important components of therapy remain supportive care and decrease in immunosuppression. The use of antiviral therapy is not supported by prospective randomized clinical trials. However, intravenous cidofovir is considered the standard practice for treatment of severe, progressive, or disseminated adenovirus disease in most transplant centers. Intravenous immunoglobulin may be beneficial, primarily in a select group of patients with hypogammaglobulinemia. Future approaches to treatment of adenovirus disease may include administration of adenovirus-specific T-cell therapy.

Keywords: adenovirus; infection and infectious agents; infectious; solid organ transplant and transplantation.