Surgeons at Johns Hopkins perform a transplant using an HIV-positive organ. Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medical hide caption
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Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medical
Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Medical
A large-scale clinical trial launched by the National Institutes of Health in May could pave the way for more HIV-positive patients with kidney disease to receive life-saving transplants.
The trial, called the HOPE in Action Multicenter Kidney Study, will assess the risks of transplanting kidneys from HIV-positive donors into patients living with the virus, says Dr. Christine Durand, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and a principal investigator of the study.
“We have an organ shortage crisis in this country and individuals living with HIV are disproportionately affected,” she says. The research will help determine whether the pool of HIV-infected organs is “safe and effective.” If so, she says, it would benefit everyone awaiting kidneys.
“Every time someone with HIV gets an organ transplant they move everybody else up on the waitlist,” says Durand.
There are 468,000 Americans receiving dialysis for end-stage renal disease. According to Durand’s research, an estimated 1.5 percent of those live with HIV. About 1 percent of liver transplant candidates have HIV.
“This means that more than 10,000 HIV positive individuals could benefit from a kidney or liver transplant,” says Durand.
The HOPE in Action study will track 160 kidney transplants, half receiving HIV-positive kidneys and half receiving virus-free organs. Recipients will be monitored after surgery for signs of organ rejection, organ failure, and other complications, such as the risk of infecting the patient with more than one strain of HIV.
This will allow doctors to more accurately predict risk after these transplants, and offer the procedure to more HIV-positive people on the transplant waiting list. The researchers also hope to make a case for allowing such transplants to become standard care.
Currently, HIV-positive transplants are only permitted if they are part of a clinical trial, such as this one. In 2013, President Obama signed a law, the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act, allowing HIV-positive individuals to donate certain organs (currently only kidneys and livers), but only as part of a research study conducted with oversight by an academic institution.
Health Care
Organ Donation System Set For Changes
Organ Donation System Set For Changes
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