The Immunocompromised Surgical Patient and Opportunistic Infections

Abstract

Immunosuppressive medications used to prevent allograft rejection render solid-organ transplant recipients vulnerable to various opportunistic infections. These infections include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites and occur either via reactivation of previously acquired latent infection or de novo acquisition from the donor organ itself or the environment after the transplantation. The type and clinical course of the infection depend on various factors, including the transplanted organ, nature of immunosuppressive regimens, timing of infection relative to the organ transplant, and type and duration of prophylaxis. Proper donor and recipient screening for preventable infections and posttransplantation prophylaxis are instrumental in preventing morbid infections. Posttransplantation infections may present with subtle findings and thus may cause a delay in diagnosis and treatment, resulting in a poor outcome. Appropriate pathogen-specific tests should be requested promptly for early diagnosis. Since these infections may have overlapping clinical and radiologic features, tissue biopsy, if feasible, should be done to establish a definitive diagnosis. Surgical excision or débridement should be attempted in patients presenting with abscesses or invasive fungal sinusitis along with antimicrobial therapy. After the completion of treatment, suppressive therapy may be required in certain infections to prevent a relapse as long as the patient remains immunosuppressed. This review contains 3 tables, and 82 references. Key words: allograft, donor, immunocompromised, infection, opportunistic, organ, transplant