QF-CMV test helps predict transplant recipients at increased risk of CMV disease after surgery

New international guidelines published in the journal Transplantation reinforce the use of a new type of blood test to assess cytomegalovirus (CMV) risk in solid organ transplant recipients (i.e. transplant recipients).  This blood test, QuantiFERON®-CMV (QF-CMV), is the first commercially-available blood test to allow physicians to monitor a person's risk of CMV disease.  Most commonly used in the transplant setting, QF-CMV may predict which transplant recipients are at increased risk of CMV disease after transplant surgery.

"For transplant recipients whose immune systems are already compromised by anti-rejection medications, the emergence of immune monitoring of CMV-specific T-cell responses in transplant medicine is an exciting development," said Assoc Prof Atul Humar, Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Canada. "Immune monitoring may potentially allow physicians not only to gauge a patient's risk of developing post-transplant CMV disease, but also to assist in determining the most appropriate management pathway on an individual, patient-by-patient basis."