title: Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and laboratory diagnosis in solid-organ transplant recipients.
abstract: Tuberculosis (TB) is an unusual infection in transplant recipients. We evaluated (i) the frequency of TB, (ii) the duration to develop the TB infection, and (iii) clinical consequences, in 380 solid-organ recipients from January 1995 to December 2000. A total of 10 (2.63%) patients (eight renal, two liver transplant recipients) were found to have post-transplantation TB. The frequency of TB in this patient population is 8.5-fold higher than the prevalance in the general Turkish population. Tuberculosis developed within 2-33 months after transplantation, with a median of 15 months. In all of these 10 patients, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was isolated from the culture. All the patients continued to have low dose immunosuppressive treatment, and also quadriple antituberculosis treatment [isoniazid (INH), rifampin (RIF), pyrazinamide (PRZ) and ethambutol (ETB)] has been given. The two recipients had died of disseminated form of TB. Relapse was detected in one patient 6 months after the completion of the treatment. As post-transplant TB infection develops mostly within the first year after transplantation, clinicians should be more careful for early and fast diagnosis and treatment should be started immediately.
authors.affiliation: Ege University, Medical Faculty, Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology Department, Internal Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. candac2001@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavusoglu
authors.forename: Candan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cicek-Saydam
authors.forename: Zeki
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Karasu
authors.forename: Yeser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozkahya
authors.forename: Hüseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toz
authors.forename: Yaman
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokat
authors.forename: Altinay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bilgic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012306:Risk; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents