Human herpesvirus 8 can be transmitted through kidney transplants and is a risk factor for transplantation-related Kaposi's sarcoma, according to a study published November 5 in The New England Journal of Medicine (1998;339:1358-1363).
Nicolas Regamey, MD, of the University of Basel in Switzerland, and colleagues tested for the presence of antibodies to HHV-8 on the day of kidney transplantation and one year later in 220 patients.
About 6% of patients were seropositive for HHV-8 on the day of transplantation, and another 11% (25 patients) seroconverted during the year following transplantation. Kaposi's sarcoma developed in two of the 25 patients 26 months after transplantation.
A control group of eight patients who were seronegative at transplantation received kidneys from HHV-8—negative donors, and none of them seroconverted in the year following transplantation.
"... our data show that HHV-8 is transmitted by donor organs. Patients who become seropositive for HHV-8 after transplantation are at risk for Kaposi's sarcoma, especially if they are severely immunosuppressed," Dr. Regamey and his coauthors concluded.
Please be aware that medical advice, diagnoses and physician references cannot be obtained from this site.