Blood transfusion and the risk for infections in kidney transplant patients

Receipt of a red blood cell transfusion (RBCT) post-kidney transplantation may alter immunity which could predispose to subsequent infection.

We carried out a single-center, retrospective cohort study of 1,258 adult kidney transplant recipients from 2002 to 2018 (mean age 52, 64% male). The receipt of RBCT post-transplant (468 participants transfused, total 2,373 RBCT) was analyzed as a time-varying, cumulative exposure. Adjusted cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for outcomes of bacterial or viral (BK or CMV) infection.

Over a median follow-up of 3.8 years, bacterial infection occurred in 34% of participants at a median of 409 days post-transplant and viral infection occurred in 25% at a median of 154 days post-transplant. Transfusion was associated with a step-wise higher risk of bacterial infection (HR 1.35, 95%CI 0.95-1.91; HR 1.29, 95%CI 0.92-1.82; HR 2.63, 95%CI 1.94-3.56; HR 3.38, 95%CI 2.30-4.95, for 1, 2, 3-5 and >5 RBCT respectively), but not viral infection. These findings were consistent in multiple additional analyses, including accounting for reverse causality.

Blood transfusion after kidney transplant is associated with a higher risk for bacterial infection, emphasizing the need to use transfusions judiciously in this population already at risk for infections.