HIV-infected patients are increasingly referred for kidney transplantation, and may be at an increased risk for rejection. Treatment for rejection frequently includes thymoglobulin. We studied thymoglobulin's effect on CD4+ T-cell count, risk of infection and rejection reversal in 20 consecutive HIV-infected kidney recipients. All patients used antiretroviral therapy and opportunistic infection...

RATIONALE Kidney transplantation has become standard of care for carefully selected patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. American and European prospective cohort studies have reported similar patient and graft survival compared with HIV-negative kidney transplant recipients. Despite an...

BK viruseassociated nephropathy (BKVAN) is one of the main causes of graft failure after kidney transplantation [1] and is implicated inmore than 20% of graft failure. Intragraft inflammation and insufficient immune response are regarded as the main factors of BKVAN. Although the BK polyoma virus infection is highly prevalent in general population, BKVAN does not develop in healthy individuals ...

Biopsy of the transplanted kidney may provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information [ljJ. Several biopsy methods have been developed to minimize the risk of damaging the solitary functioning renal allograft. Each method has inherent advantages and disadvantages. Recently, ultrasonography has provided a safe and efficient means of guidance for biopsy of native kidneys [2-6]. Because of pr...

BACKGROUND Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation is the treatment of choice for selected diabetic patients. Corticosteroids are an important element of immunosuppressive protocols, but their long-term use has detrimental effects on patients' health, necessitating eventual discontinuation. METHODS This prospective study evaluated the safety and feasibility of corticosteroid withdr...