Photo Credit: Moesy

The following is a summary of “Management of infectious disease syndromes in thoracic organ transplants and mechanical circulatory device recipients: a Delphi panel,” published in the June 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Luong et al.

Antimicrobial resistance in recipients of thoracic transplant (TTx) and mechanical circulatory support (MCS) is exacerbated by antimicrobial misuse. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to establish the appropriate antimicrobial prescribing guidelines for recipients of TTx and MCS using a modified Delphi method.

They conducted an online questionnaire with 10 common infectious disease syndromes, which was distributed to 25 experts of the Delphi panel. Consensus was defined as 80% for each question, and discussions were held in live virtual sessions where the questions lacked consensus.

The result showed that an online survey of 62 questions related to 10 infectious disease syndromes was submitted to the Delphi panel. In the first round, consensus on antimicrobials reached 6.5% (4/62). In the 2nd round of online live discussion, the remaining 58 questions were discussed among members using a virtual meeting platform, where consensus reached 62% (36/58) of questions. The agreement was not reached regarding the antimicrobial management of 6 specific syndromes: Burkholderia cepacia pneumonia, Mycobacterium abscessus, invasive aspergillosis, respiratory syncytial virus, left ventricular assist device deep infection, and CMV.

They concluded that the panel developed consensus-based recommendations for managing ten infectious clinical syndromes observed in recipients of TTx and MCS.

Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38351512