Table 8.

Management of opportunistic infections after cardiac transplantation

Organism	Test	Treatment
Cytomegalovirus	IE-Gene, PCR, IgM	Gancyclovir, if severe additional CMV antibodies
Herpes simplex virus	IgM	Aciclovir
Varicella-zoster virus	IgM	Aciclovir
Hepatitis B virus	IgM	Lamivudine
Legionella species	Urine antigen, x ray	Erythromycin
Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Ziehl-Neelson	Rifampicin, isoniazid, myambutol
Nocardia asteroides	Brain CT	Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim
Pneumocystis carinii	x ray	Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim
Toxoplasma gondii	X ray, IFT, CFT, IgA, IgM	Pyrimethamine + sulfadiazine, folic acid
Candida albicans	Direct	Fluconazole, itraconazole
Aspergillus fumigatus	X ray	Itraconazole, amphotericin B, flucytosine
Cryptococcus neoformans	Brain CT	Itraconazole, amphotericin B, flucytosine, or fluconazole
Listeria monocytogenes		CNS: ampicillin + gentamycin

CMV, cytomegalovirus; CT computed tomography; IFT immunofluoresence test; CFT, complement fixation test.