Outcomes and complications following ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation performed after desensitization by...

Because of the current organ shortage, ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantations have been increasingly performed in recent years. The results seem comparable to those of compatible transplantations, but there have also been reports of increased side effects possibly because of the desensitization therapy. To address an increase in severe infectious complications, we compared the outcomes of 48 ABOi transplant recipients to outcomes of 96 matched ABO-compatible (ABOc) controls transplanted at Heidelberg University Hospital from August 2005 to April 2018. Over a follow-up period of 8 years, ABOi transplant recipients had comparable graft and patient survival as well as graft function compared with ABOc patients. T-cell-mediated and antibody-mediated rejections were not different between groups. In ABOi transplant recipients, urosepsis (22.9% vs. 8.5%; P = 0.019) and pneumonia with opportunistic pathogens (8.3% vs. 1.0%, P = 0.025) appeared more frequently. As a consequence, a significantly higher number of deaths from infection have been observed after ABOi transplantations (6.3% vs. 0%, P = 0.010). High-titer recipients (isoagglutinin titer of ≥1:256) showed a higher incidence of BK virus replication and postoperative bleeding complications. ABO-incompatible transplantations can be performed with results that are not different from results after ABOc transplantations. However, an increased rate of serious infectious complications must be taken into account.