title: HIV infection in the first heart transplantation in Italy: fatal outcome. Case report.
abstract: A 46-year-old man with alcoholic dilated cardiomyopathy underwent heart transplantation on November 14, 1985. It was the first cardiac transplant in Italy and at that time no HIV antibody screening test was available in this country. The patient remained in good health for 6 years postoperatively, with only one episode of rejection (type 3A). In June 1992 he died of fulminant complications of AIDS and severe chronic rejection. Neither the patient nor the organ donor belonged to any of the known risk groups for HIV infection; a retrospective analysis revealed that perioperative blood transfusions had been the vectors of transmission.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angelini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cecchetto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valente
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Livi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thiene
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D065227:Transfusion Reaction