Solid Organ Transplantation in HIV+ Recipients: Italian Experience

Abstract

Introduction: According to current estimates, there are about 540,000 patients who are infected with HIV in Western Europe, of which about 3100 are potential candidates for organ transplantation. In Italy, there are currently 85 HIV patients on the transplant list.

Methods: Organ transplantation activity in HIV recipients from 2002 to December 2014 was assessed from the database provided by the Transplant Center of Modena until the year 2011. For the years 2012 to 2014, data are from the Transplant Information System (SIT). The follow-up data have been extracted from the function "Quality" of the SIT.

Results: The transplant centers on Italian territory that meet the requirements according to national protocol are in total 29: 11 for the liver, 9 for the kidney including 1 pediatric, 3 for the heart, 3 for the lungs, and for 3 for the combined kidney-pancreas. Since 2002, 257 organ transplantations were carried out, including 185 liver, 59 kidney, 5 combined liver-kidney, 5 combined kidney-pancreas, 2 heart, and 1 double lung. The first cause of death is represented by co-hepatitis C virus infection, in particular in 26 liver recipients (37%) and in 3 kidney recipients (20%).

Conclusions: The analysis showed that transplantation activity in HIV is on the rise, especially in the last 2 years, with an outcome similar to that reported in the literature.