Cytomegalovirus reactivation and the prevalence in autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

In this article, we comment on the article by Ben Moussa <i>et al</i> published discussing cytomegalovirus (CMV) reactivation in patients who have undergone autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT). CMV reactivation is a heavily discussed complication when discussing allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, but much more limited discussion in AHSCT. These issues are further complicated by a lack of concrete guidelines for CMV reactivation after AHSCT, especially viral load thresholds which have been shown to be the strongest correlation to determine the occurrence and severity of CMV reactivation. Although antiviral prophylaxis and testing does exist, it is limited and rarely extends beyond d100, limiting response effectiveness to delayed acting CMV reactivation or other delayed autoimmune disease.