title: Harmful long-term impact of hepatitis C virus infection in kidney transplant recipients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The long-term impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in renal transplant recipients remains controversial. We report here our experience, in a homogeneous single center, of 499 patients with a fairly long follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively studied 499 hepatitis B virus-negative patients who received an initial cadaver donor kidney transplantation at Necker Hospital between January 1, 1979 and December 31, 1994, with a graft or patient survival of at least 6 months. Anti-HCV antibodies were detected at time of transplantation in 112 patients (22%). Patient survival and causes of death were compared among anti-HCV-positive and -negative patients
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results clearly indicate that first cadaver kidney transplant recipients with anti-HCV antibodies had a significantly shorter patient and graft long-term survival than recipients without anti-HCV antibodies (P<0.01 and P<0.0001 respectively). Mean follow-up time after transplantation was 79+/-2 months in the former group and 81+/-5 months in the latter (NS). Increased mortality was primarily caused by liver disease (P<0.001) and sepsis (P<0.01). In a multivariate analysis, HCV infection significantly affected the mortality rate (odds ratio: 2.8).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that HCV infection has a harmful long-term impact on the survival of kidney transplant recipients.
authors.affiliation: Service de Transplantation, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Legendre
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Garrigue
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Bihan
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mamzer-Bruneel
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chaix
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Landais
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kreis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies