Renal allograft tuberculosis with infected lymphocele transmitted from the donor

Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) from a donor through renal transplantation is a rare incident. We are reporting a 53-year-old Qatari woman diagnosed with renal allograft TB infection. The disease was confirmed by isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from fluid from the lymphocele and demonstration of caseating granuloma in graft biopsy with acid-fast bacilli seen on Ziehl-Neelsen staining. The diagnosis was made quite early post-transplantation. The presence of the granuloma, which is unusual with patients on intensive immunosuppressant medications, suggests that transmission of the infection occurred from the donor rather than from the activation of latent infection. In reviewing the literature, we found ten case reports of TB in transplanted kidney with transmission of TB infection from the donor. The presence of TB in lymphocele in association with the infected transplant by TB, to the best of our knowledge, was reported only once in the literature. Our case had unfavorable outcome and ended by renal allograft nephrectomy and hemodialysis. We are presenting this case of TB infection of renal allograft and lymphocele diagnosed early post-transplantation transmitted from the donor and pertinent review from the literature.