Use of public health service increased risk kidneys in pediatric renal transplant recipients

Factors Underlying Racial Disparity in Utilization of Hepatitis C-Viremic Kidneys in the United States

Utilization of hepatitis C (HCV) viremic kidneys is increasing in the United States. We examined racial disparity in this utilization using UNOS/OPTN data (2014-2020) and mixed effects models adjusting for donor/recipient/center factors. Included in the study were 58,786 adults receiving a deceased donor kidney transplant from 191 centers. Two thousand six hundred thirteen (4%) received kidneys from HCV-viremic donors. Of these, 1598 (61%) were HCV seronegative and 1015 (49%) were HCV seropositive. Among seronegative recipients, before adjusting for waiting time and education, Blacks (OR 0.69, 95%CI (0.60, 0.80)), Hispanics (OR 0.63, 95%CI (0.51, 0.79)), and Asians (OR 0.69, 95%CI (0.53, 0.90)) were less likely than Whites to receive HCV-viremic kidneys. In final models, effect of race was attenuated. Notably, shorter waiting time (OR 0.65, 95%CI (0.63, 0.67)) and increasing educational level (grade school less likely compared to high school OR 0.67, 95% CI (0.49, 0.92) and college more likely than high school (OR 1.16 95% CI (1.02, 1.31)) were associated with receipt of HCV-viremic kidneys. Among HCV-seropositive recipients, recipient race was not independently associated with receipt of HCV-viremic kidneys; however, centers with larger populations of Black waitlisted patients were more likely to utilize HCV-viremic kidneys (OR 1.71, 95%CI (1.20, 2.45)) compared to other centers. Our results suggest recipient race does not independently determine who receives HCV-viremic kidneys; however, other underlying factors including waiting time, education (among seronegative), and center racial mix (among seropositive) contribute to the current differential distribution of HCV-viremic kidneys among races.

Prevention, diagnosis, and management of donor derived infections in pediatric kidney transplant recipients

Donor derived infections (DDIs) in pediatric kidney transplant recipients remain challenging to diagnose and can result in serious morbidity and mortality. This review summarizes the current guidelines and recommendations for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of unexpected DDIs in pediatric kidney transplant recipients. We provide a contemporary overview of DDI terminology, surveillance, epidemiology, and recommended approaches for assessing these rare events with an emphasis on the pediatric recipient. To address prevention and risk mitigation, important aspects of donor and pediatric candidate evaluations are reviewed, including current Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and American Society of Transplantation (AST) recommendations. Common unexpected DDI encountered by pediatric transplant teams including multi-drug resistant organisms, tuberculosis, syphilis, West Nile Virus, toxoplasmosis, Chagas disease, strongyloidiasis, candidiasis, histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, and emerging infections such as COVID-19 are discussed in detail. Finally, we consider the general challenges with management of DDIs and share our experience with a novel application of next generation sequencing (NGS) of microbial cell-free DNA that will likely define a future direction in this field.