Hepatitis C Infection, Time in Renal-Replacement Therapy, and Outcome after Kidney Transplantation

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Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in kidney transplantation and is known to affect long-term patient and graft survival, as is time in renal-replacement therapy (RRT). The aim of this study was to investigate HCV in relation to time in RRT and its impact on outcome after transplantation. A follow-up cohort study using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards model was performed in 545 kidney and 26 kidney-pancreas transplant recipients receiving transplants between 1989 and 1997, with last follow-up on December 31, 2002. HCV status at transplantation and time in RRT were analyzed. Time in RRT was significantly longer (PP HCV was, in our series, more important than time in RRT for patient death and graft loss posttransplant. Successful pretransplant antiviral therapy could be more beneficial for HCV-infected patients rather than early transplantation for long-term outcome, but this needs to be studied prospectively.