We recently reported on a new commercial cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia assay, the CMV Brite Turbo kit (Biotest Diagnostics, Denville, N.J.), which can be completed in only 2 h (4) instead of the 4 to 5 h required in the standard assay (1, 3, 6). The reduction in assay time is accomplished by using direct erythrocyte (RBC) lysis to separate leukocytes from whole blood instead of dextran sedi...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection causes significant morbidity and mortality in the setting of immunodeficiency, including the immune reconstitution phase following allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). We assessed CMV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell responses in 87 HLA-A*0201-positive (A2+) and/or B*0702-positive (B7+) allogeneic stem cell transplant recipients using HLA-peptide tetramer...

gastric pain and melena. She had been diagnosed as having dermatomyositis and treatedwith immunosuppression therapy, including three courses of steroid pulse therapy, intravenous immunoglobulin, and two courses of double-filtration plasmapheresis. She presented with symptoms 5 days after additional cyclophosphamide pulse therapy. Her hemoglobin level had dropped from 9.1 to 6.3 g/dL in 2 days. ...

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is 1 of the major causes of morbidity in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). The incidences of CMV antigenemia and CMV disease in 43 patients who received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen, which mainly consisted of fludarabine (Flu), busulfan (Bu), and total body irr...

OBJECTIVE In HIV-infected adults in sub-Saharan Africa, asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia at the time of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is associated with more than 20% increased mortality. Provisional recommendations for treatment of asymptomatic cryptococcal antigenemia are neither well substantiated nor feasible in many resource-poor settings. After hospitals in Tanzania impleme...

Infection is a major cause of mortality and morbidity after thoracic organ transplantation. The microbiological aetiology of the infections is broad necessitating accurate diagnostic evaluation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the infectious complications after lung and heart transplantation, with a special emphasis on the usefulness of bronchoscopy and the demonstration of cytomeg...

Polyomavirus BK reactivation is common in renal transplant recipients and may cause nephropathy with significant graft dysfunction. The induction of anti-double stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies by BKV has been described in experimental animals and during primary infection, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus. This study evaluated the occurrence of ant...

INTRODUCTION Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is often reactive in latently infected immunosuppressed patients. Accordingly, HCMV remains one of the most common infections following solid organ and hemopoietic stem cell transplantations, resulting in significant morbidity, graft loss and occasional mortality. The early diagnosis of HCMV disease is important in immunosuppressed patients, since in th...

The impact of early human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication on leukemic recurrence was evaluated in 266 consecutive adult (median age, 47 years; range, 18-73 years) acute myeloid leukemia patients, who underwent allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT) from 10 of 10 high-resolution human leukocyte Ag-identical unrelated (n = 148) or sibling (n = 118) donors. A total of 63% of patients (n...

The second-generation MVista Blastomyces antigen enzyme immunoassay was not quantitative; therefore, specimens obtained previously were tested in the same assay as new specimens to assess the change in antigen levels. Furthermore, the sensitivity in serum had not been fully evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a quantitative Blastomyces antigen assay and detection of antigen in ...