Long-term results of kidney transplantation from HCV-positive donors.
BACKGROUND
Due to the shortage of organs for transplantation, procurement of kidneys from marginal donors is inevitable. Not infrequently, these donors are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).


OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the effect of transplanting kidneys from anti-HCV-positive donors to anti-HCV-positive recipients.


METHODS
Among 765 procedures between 1994 and 2006, 259 kidney recipients were anti-HCV-positive, including 60 who received kidneys from anti-HCV-positive donors (HCV(+)/HCV(+) group) and the others, from seronegative donors (HCV(-)/HCV(+) group). The control group of 506 seronegative recipients received kidneys from seronegative donors (HCV(-)/HCV(-) group). All kidneys from anti-HCV-positive donors were preserved with machine perfusion. We investigated recipient liver function tests (LFTs; alanine aminotrasferase, aspartate aminotransferase; alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin), graft survival, and patient survival.


RESULTS
No significant difference was observed between the groups among the biochemistry results (LFTs, creatinine at 5 years). No significant differences, were observed in patient survival, graft survival, or number of patients returning to dialysis.


CONCLUSIONS
Transplantation of kidneys from HCV-positive donors to HCV-positive recipients did not influence long-term liver function, or long-term renal allograft function. This strategy enhances the availability of transplantation as means of end-stage renal disease treatment.
Kasprzyk
T
T
Department of General and Transplantation Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland. tomekasprzyk@esculap.pl
Kwiatkowski
A
A
Wszola
M
M
Ostrowski
K
K
Danielewicz
R
R
Domagala
P
P
Malkowski
P
P
Fesolowicz
S
S
Nosek
R
R
Czerwinski
J
J
Trzebicki
J
J
Durlik
M
M
Paczek
L
L
Patrzalek
D
D
Rowinski
W
W
Chmura
A
A
D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000401:mortality / Q000502:physiology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017741:Survivors; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors
D003404:Creatinine; D001663:Bilirubin