Posted on July 23, 2020
Source: NIH
"Kidney transplantation from deceased donors with HIV to people living with both HIV and end-stage kidney disease is feasible and safe, investigators supported by the National Institutes of Health have found. Their study demonstrates that the pool of available kidneys for people with HIV can be expanded by including donors with HIV, making more kidneys available for all who are awaiting a transplant."
"The new findings build on research from 2019, when scientists from the University of Cape Town and NIH reported that people living with HIV who received kidney transplants from deceased donors with HIV had high overall survival and kidney graft survival after five years."
"People living with HIV have a growing prevalence of end-stage kidney disease and are nearly three times more likely to die while on kidney dialysis than people without HIV. Kidney transplantation extends the lives of people with HIV and end-stage kidney disease, but these individuals face a shortage of donors and limited access to donor kidneys. The HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law in 2013, allows organ transplants from donors with HIV to recipients with HIV in approved research studies in the United States. Experts concurred that kidney transplantation between people with HIV would expand the pool of available organs and save lives. Consequently, investigators sought to explore the safety of this innovative transplantation practice."
