Infectious Complications in Patients with Kidney Transplantation: Follow-Up Results in Single Center

Koo, Tai Yeon; Park, Hye Sun; Kim, Hyun Chul; Park, Joon Sung; Lee, Chang Hwa; Kim, Gheun Ho; Kwon, Oh Jung; Kang, Chong Myung

Abstract

PURPOSE: Infectious complications may remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality following renal transplantation. This study was undertaken to investigate current status of infectious complications in renal transplant recipients.
METHODS
Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 534 recipients who underwent kidney transplantation in Hanyang University Hospital from February 1986 to September 2006.
RESULTS
251 recipients (47%) had 390 episodes of infectious complications. Most patients (86.8%) suffer two or less episodes of infection. The skin and soft tissue (40.7%) infection was the most common over the whole post-transplant periods, and the most common causative organism was virus (55.2%). Among the bacterial infections, urinary tract (43%) was the most common site of infection. Among the viral infections, varicella-zoster virus was the most frequent. Increasing age at kidney transplantation (> or =40 years) was associated with the risk of infection within one month after transplantation. Both acute rejection and loss of allograft function were associated with the risk of infectious complications. The overall profile of infectious complications occurring after renal transplantation did not seem to be changed during the last two decades. However, the mortality rate associated with the infection showed a decreasing tendency over the past decade.
CONCLUSION
Infectious complications are still important to affect the outcomes of kidney transplantation. Strategies to further reduce the infectious complications are necessary.