HIV positive kidney transplant recipients who are not infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have similar kidney and patient survival rates as HIV negative recipients, according to a study conducted by researchers. Chronic diseases represent the leading cause of death among HIV positive individuals. Kidney transplantation is now offered as an acceptable treatment option for HIV positive patients with end-stage renal disease, although experience with HIV positive kidney transplantation is in its relative infancy.  Understanding long-term outcomes among HIV positive kidney transplant recipients is paramount to ensure continued access to life saving kidney transplantation for this vulnerable population.
The findings reveal that HIV positive kidney transplant recipients who are not infected with HCV have similar kidney and patient survival rates as HIV negative recipients. Importantly, though, almost 25% of HIV positive kidney transplant recipients are co-infected with HCV, compared with only 5% of the general kidney transplant recipient population.
Overall, patient survival among HIV positive recipients was significantly lower than survival rates of HIV negative recipients; however, when limited to patients without HCV, rates were similar for mono-infected HIV positive recipients and uninfected recipients at both time points. HIV positive recipients co-infected with HCV had inferior kidney and patient survival rates.

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