International prevalence of hepatitis C positivity among hemodialysis patients awaiting transplantation

It is well recognized that the shortage of available kidneys has resulted in long wait times for dialysis patients seeking transplantation and that many patients die before receiving an allograft. Yet, the data presented by Reese et  al.,1 in their early, thoughtful proposal to begin considering transplanting hepatitis C virus (HCV)–positive kidneys, reveal that in the United States between 2005 and 2014, 4144 kidneys from 3273 deceased donors with hepatitis C antibody were discarded. With the recent development of highly ef fective, well-tolerated oral agents to treat HCV infection, it would seem desirable to transplant infected kidneys into HCV-positive recipients, who could then undergo HCV eradication.
Source: Kidney International - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research