Tuberculous infection in southern Chinese renal transplant recipients

A retrospective study of the prevalence and pattern of tuberculosis among renal transplant patients in a single centre in southern China was performed. Twenty-three cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed among 440 patients between January 1991 and December 2002. There were 18 men and five women. The mean age of the patients was 39.3 +/- 13.4 yr. There were 13 living-related and 10 cadaveric renal transplants. The interval between renal transplantation and the development of tuberculosis ranged from 3 to 127 months with a median of 46 months. There were 18 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, two cases of pulmonary plus laryngeal tuberculosis, two cases of disseminated tuberculosis, and one case of tuberculosis involving the urinary tract. Diagnosis was established by positive culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 21 patients and response to empirical anti-tuberculosis treatment in two patients. The duration of symptoms before the diagnosis of tuberculosis was 27 +/- 12 d. The patients were treated with standard anti-tuberculosis drugs for 11 +/- 3 months. The anti-tuberculosis treatment was in general well-tolerated. Five patients developed transient hepatitis, three patients developed thrombocytopenia and five patients developed gouty arthritis. One patient died 2 months after initiation of anti-tuberculosis therapy. All other patients completed anti-tuberculosis treatment. No recurrence of tuberculosis was observed after a median follow-up of 90 months. We concluded that (i) tuberculosis is prevalent among southern Chinese renal transplant recipients; (ii) high index of suspicion for tuberculosis among renal transplant recipients is warranted to ensure early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment; and (iii) treatment with standard anti-tuberculosis drugs for an extended period of time is well-tolerated and is associated with favourable outcome.