[Candidiasis in kidney transplant patients]

The medical records of 620 patients submitted to renal transplant from February 1968 to February 1995 were surveyed for Candida infection. Of these, 87 presented 107 episodes of candidiasis. In 42.9% the infection appeared up to 6 months after the transplant. The most frequent involved sites were: urinary tract, respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal tract. The most frequent etiological agents were: C. albicans, C. tropicalis and C. glabrata. Most urinary tract infections occurred in the first 6 months (61.7%) and manifested clinically as a bacterial infection. In the respiratory tract infections were characterized by isolation of the agent in sputum. In the gastrointestinal infections, 9/16 episodes were esophageal. There were 3 deaths directly related to Candidiasis (one pulmonary and 2 disseminated cases). In the urinary tract, and respiratory tract infections there was association of candidiasis with previous antibiotic treatment (76% and 67%, respectively), and with concomitant bacterial infections (34% and 64%, respectively). The overall prevalence of Candida infections was 14.5%. The predominant location was in the urinary tract (51.0%), followed by the respiratory (26.0%) and gastrointestinal tract (15.0%), with a high rate of association with previous antibiotic treatment and bacterial infections.