Open AccessThe Clinical Utility of Whole Blood Versus Plasma Cytomegalovirus Viral Load Assays for Monitoring Therapeutic Response
Author(s) -
Luiz F. Lisboa,
Anders Åsberg,
Deepali Kumar,
Xiaoli Pang,
Anders Hartmann,
Jutta K. Preiksaitis,
Mark D. Pescovitz,
Halvor Rollag,
Alan G. Jardine,
Atul Humar
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.45
H-Index - 204
eISSN - 1534-6080
pISSN - 0041-1337
DOI - 10.1097/tp.0b013e3181ff8719
Subject(s) - viremia , whole blood , viral load , medicine , real time polymerase chain reaction , immunology , cytomegalovirus , virus , gastroenterology , herpesviridae , viral disease , virology , biology , biochemistry , gene
In patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, regular monitoring of viral loads and treatment until negative are recommended. However, with more sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and cellular peripheral sample types, detection of low-level viremia is achievable. We compared a whole blood real-time PCR with a plasma PCR assay for monitoring therapeutic response.