Clinical Indications

Adenovirus is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in
the transplant setting, causing pneumonia, hemorrhagic cystitis,
hepatitis, encephalitis, pancreatitis, enteritis, and disseminated
disease with the mortality rate reaching 60% in some especially
high risk situations such as pediatric hematopoietic stem cell
transplantation. Since proper management is dependent upon early
diagnosis, quantitative adenovirus DNA
PCR is useful for detecting the virus,
tracking the course of infection, and monitoring response to
treatment. Treatment of adenovirus in immunocompromised patients
presents challenges, including drug toxicity, delayed onset of
disease after discontinuing therapy, and emergence of mutations
that may affect the ability of diagnostic assays to detect them
efficiently.