Sunday, April 6, 2025
News

Hep C-Viremic Kidneys Increasingly Used for Transplant

One-year eGFR similar for HCV-seronegative recipients receiving HCV-viremic, non-HCV-viremic kidneys

THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-viremic kidneys are increasingly being used for transplants and seem to have good one-year outcomes, according to a study published online Sept. 12 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Face2Face with Virginia
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 4 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
02:04
02:04
 

Vishnu S. Potluri, M.D., M.P.H., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues examined trends in HCV-viremic kidney use between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2019. Advanced matching methods were used to compare estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) for similar kidneys transplanted into highly-similar kidney recipients.

The researchers found that HCV-seronegative recipients received an increasing proportion of HCV-viremic kidneys over time. Two hundred HCV-viremic kidneys were transplanted into HCV-seronegative recipients during the study period compared with 69 into HCV-seropositive recipients; 105 HCV-viremic kidneys were discarded, with a decrease in the probability of discard over time. During the study period, there was an increase in candidates willing to accept a HCV-seropositive kidney (2,936 to 16,809). When transplanted into HCV-seronegative recipients, predictors of organ quality matched for HCV-viremic kidneys and HCV-non-viremic kidneys, with similar one-year eGFR (66.3 versus 67.1 mL/min/1.73 m²; P = 0.86), in spite of worse kidney donor profile index scores assigned to HCV-viremic kidneys. After transplantation of HCV-viremic kidneys, there was no correlation seen for recipient HCV-serostatus with a clinically meaningful difference in one-year eGFR (66.5 versus 71.1 mL/min/1.73 m²; P = 0.056).

“These findings provide strong evidence that HCV-viremic kidneys are a valuable resource for transplantation,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

Copyright © 2019 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

HealthDay.com
the authorHealthDay.com