LAUSR

Since the advent of solid organ transplantation (SOT), infections have been recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in both transplant candidates and recipients. The potentially devastating impact of these infections has prompted efforts to understand risk factors, optimize treatment, and where applicable, implement strategies to prevent infection. Indeed, the importance of infectious complications coupled with the growing number of children and adults undergoing SOT has led to the establishment and growth of the subspecialty of Transplant Infectious Diseases (TID). Together with the transplant surgeons and physicians who care for these patients, TID specialists have worked to enhance our understanding of the complexity of infectious complications in the SOT recipient. These efforts resulted in the publication of the 1st Edition of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Complications of Solid Organ Transplantation in 2004. Since then, evolution and progress in clinical practice in organ transplantation and infectious diseases have required periodic critical reassessments of the Guidelines to provide transplant clinicians updated guidance based on the most currently available evidence. This 4th Edition of the AST Infectious Diseases Guidelines continues to reflect the ongoing evolution of the discipline and is designed to inform current clinical practice and also highlight gaps in our knowledge and research opportunities. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.