Kidney transplantation from hepatitis B surface antigen-positive donors into hepatitis B surface antigen-positive recipients: preliminary findings.

INTRODUCTION

The success of renal transplantation as a treatment for end-stage renal disease has created a chronic shortage of donor organs. We present our initial experience in transplanting kidneys from hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg)-positive donors into HbsAg-positive recipients.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

From January 2002 to March 2004, 5 patients with end-stage renal disease, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and HbsAg seropositivity underwent a kidney transplantation from a cadaveric HbsAg-positive donor. The median time on the waiting list was 8 months, compared with the median of 3 years on the national waiting list.

RESULTS

One patient experienced an acute rejection; 1 patient had an increase in serum level of aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with no signs of recurrence of hepatitis. Graft and patient survival at a median follow-up of 12 months was 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the number of patients is small and the follow-up is short, our results suggest that HbsAg-positive donors can be considered as an alternative donor source because their kidneys are allocated to the matched serology-positive recipients, shortening their time on the waiting list.