Heart of the matter-infection and xenotransplantation

In this clinicopathological conference, invited experts discussed a previously published case of a patient with nonischemic cardiomyopathy who underwent heart transplantation from a genetically modified pig source animal. His complex course included detection of porcine cytomegalovirus by plasma microbial cell-free DNA and eventual xenograft failure. The objectives of the session included discussion of selection of immunosuppressive regimens and prophylactic antimicrobials for human xenograft recipients, description of infectious disease risk assessment and mitigation in potential xenograft donors and understanding of screening and therapeutic strategies for potential xenograft-related infections.image #image

Automated summary

This clinicopathological conference discussed a case of a patient with nonischemic cardiomyopathy who received a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig source animal. The patient experienced complications including the detection of porcine cytomegalovirus and subsequent xenograft failure. The objectives of the session were to discuss immunosuppressive regimens, prophylactic antimicrobials, infectious disease risk assessment, and screening and therapeutic strategies for xenograft-related infections.