title: Ureteral stent placement and BK viremia in kidney transplant recipients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  BK virus (BKV) infection is an important cause of kidney transplant dysfunction. A possible association of double-J ureteral stent placement and BK viremia has been suggested in previous studies; however, risk factors for BK are incompletely understood. We aimed to determine if stent placement is an independent risk factor for BK viremia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected on consecutive kidney-only transplant recipients between December 1, 2006 and June 30, 2010. All patients had at least 12 months of follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 600 consecutive kidney transplants, BK viremia within the first post-transplant year was detected in 93 patients (15.5%); in 70 of these cases, the peak BKV polymerase chain reaction was ≥10,000 copies/mL. By multivariate analysis, significant risk factors for BK viremia were recipient age (P = 0.02) and stent placement (P = 0.03). Stents were placed in 49.2% and removed at a median of 46 days (range: 11-284) post transplantation; removals occurred within 0-30, 30-60, 60-90, 90-120, 120-150, and >150 days post transplantation in 18.4%, 67.2%, 10.5%, 2.4%, 1.0%, and 0.3% of cases, respectively. No association was found of BK viremia with stent duration >46 days (P = 0.70) or by the 6-level groupings (P = 0.92).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although we observed a significant association of BK viremia with stent placement, no dose-dependent effect was seen.
authors: Department of Surgery, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York 10467-2401, USA. liisekayler@yahoo.com
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Kayler
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Zendejas
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Schain
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Magliocca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001739:BK Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D027601:Polyomavirus Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D014570:Urologic Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D014766:Viremia / Q000209:etiology*