Screening of Donor and Recipient in Solid Organ Transplantation

Pretransplant screening of potential organ donors and recipients is essential to the success of solid organ transplantation (1–4). The goals of pretransplant infectious disease screening are to identify conditions which may disqualify either donor or recipient; identify and treat active infection pretransplant; recognize and (if possible) define the risk of infection and develop strategies for preventing and mitigating posttransplant infection; and implement preventative measures, including immunizations (5). While there is general agreement on the major infections for which routine screening is performed, centers vary in the extent of infectious diseases investigation and the actions taken as a result.