Case Report: HIV Infection From a Kidney Transplant

The transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through transplantation of human tissues and organs is rare but not impossible. A 27-year-old Bulgarian woman received a kidney transplant from a cadaveric donor owing to chronic renal failure due to glomerulonephritis of unknown etiology. Five days after the donation, the tissues showed HIV-1 infection, so she was immediately initiated on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with lopinavir/ritonavir, zidovudine, enfuvirtide, and lamivudine. Subsequently, according to the genotypic test which revealed a complex resistance pattern of the HIV-1, we changed the regimen to darunavir/ritonavir, etravirine, lamivudine, and enfuvirtide. The HIV-1 genome (550 UI/mL), which was detected at 5 days after transplantation, rapidly declined to undetectable levels at 3 weeks after HAART. The CD4+ T-cell nadir was 432 cells/mu L (40%) to 1,400 cells/mu L after 2 years. The posttransplantation course was complicated by cytomegalovirus pneumonia. At 32 months after transplantation, the patient had experienced hypertension with secondary retinopathy, bilateral cataracts, diabetes, hypothyroidism, osteoporosis with multiple vertebral fractures, a hip prosthesis, and a bone infarction of the femur. Major management problems had been related to steroid and HAART treatment side effects. Therapeutic interactions between the immunosuppressants and the antiretroviral drugs were complex for management, requiring frequent checks of drug levels and dose-adjustments. We finally obtained a stable clinical and viroimmunologic condition. The transmission of multiresistant strains of HIV from unknown patients requires complex multidisciplinary management.