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We read with interest the recent retrospective study by Querido et al (1) investigating the incidence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in kidney transplant (KT) recipients with positive anti-Hepatitis… Click to show full abstract
We read with interest the recent retrospective study by Querido et al (1) investigating the incidence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in kidney transplant (KT) recipients with positive anti-Hepatitis B core (HBcAb) and negative Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). This study found that 2 out of 70 KT patients with HBcAb positivity developed HBV reactivation with reemergence of HBs Ag and HBV DNA viremia. Only 15% of the patients received rituximab as part of induction therapy (1); ; the 2 patients that developed HBV reactivation did not receive rituximab. Patients with isolated HbcAb and negative HBsAg are recognized to have latent infection with the episomal form of HBV and presence of covalently closed circular DNA.
Journal Title: Transplant Infectious Disease
Year Published: 2019
Link to full text (if available)
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