Is It Risky to Use Kidneys from CDC Increased Risk Donors?
The risk of transmitting infectious agents by blood and tissue to patients remains one of the great fears surrounding solid organ transplantation (2) Indeed, one commonly cited reason for organ discard is the risk of infectious disease transmission by such organs (1) Agents at risk for transmission include hepatitis C virus (HCV) hepatitis B virus (HBV) cytomegalovirus (CMV) West Nile virus, Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and others. However, it was the recognition that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) could be transmitted that has largely driven public policy regarding the screening of blood and tissue donors for transmissible infections. In fact, the FDA, which regulates blood and tissue donation in the United States, has taken the stance that any transmission of HIV, HCV, or HBV is unacceptable and that no amount of money is too much to protect the nation's blood supply. While this may be true of the nation's blood supply, the acceptable risks with life saving solid organ transplants are different (3)
American journal of transplantation official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons