Donor-derived aspergillosis from use of a solid organ recipient as a multiorgan donor.

Abstract

The growing need for organs and the scarcity of donors has resulted in an increased use of extended criteria donors. We report a case where a recipient of a cardiac graft was used as an organ donor. Death of the recipient occurred 9 days after transplantation and was attributed to presumed cerebral hemorrhage, which post mortem was diagnosed as invasive aspergillosis of the brain. One recipient of a kidney transplant lost the graft due to infection with Aspergillus fumigatus, whereas prompt initiation of therapy successfully prevented disseminated aspergillosis in the other recipients. Despite the pressure to extend the use of organs by lowering the acceptance criteria, organs should only be accepted if the cause of death of the donors is unequivocally explained.

• Authors: N J Mueller, M Weisser, T Fehr, R P Wüthrich, B Müllhaupt, R Lehmann, A Imhof, J-D Aubert, M Genoni, R Kunz, M Weber, J Steiger
• Journal: Transplant infectious disease : an official journal of the Transplantation Society (Transpl Infect Dis) Vol. 12 Issue 1 Pg. 54-9 (Feb 2010) ISSN: 1399-3062 [Electronic] Denmark
• PMID: 19804583 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aspergillosis (diagnosis, microbiology, transmission)
• Aspergillus fumigatus (isolation & purification)
• Female
• Humans
• Islets of Langerhans Transplantation (adverse effects)
• Kidney Transplantation (adverse effects)
• Liver Transplantation (adverse effects)
• Lung Transplantation (adverse effects)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Organ Transplantation (adverse effects)
• Tissue Donors
• Young Adult