Immune monitoring of prevalent kidney transplant recipients using Torque Teno Virus: Protocol for a single-centre prospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) suffer from immunosuppression-related adverse events (iRAEs), such as infections and malignancy from chronic immunosuppression, but are also at risk of graft loss from rejection with underimmunosuppression. Biomarkers that predict both iRAEs and rejection while allowing individualisation of immunosuppression exposure are lacking. Although plasma viral DNA levels of torque teno virus (TTV), a widely prevalent, non-pathogenic virus, have been shown to predict both iRAE and rejection in newly transplanted KTRs within the first year after transplant, its role for prevalent KTRs on stable immunosuppression is less clear.This study aims to determine the prognostic value of TTV levels for severe infections (defined as infections requiring hospitalisation) in prevalent KTRs on stable immunosuppression for at least 3 months and compare it against that of other commonly available biomarkers. The study also aims to explore the relationship between TTV levels and factors affecting the 'net state of immunosuppression' as well as other clinical outcomes. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is a single-centre, prospective, observational cohort study of 172 KTRs on stable immunosuppression for more than 3 months. TTV levels will be measured using the TTV R-GENE kit upon recruitment when study subjects are admitted and when kidney allograft biopsies are performed. Subjects will be monitored for iRAEs and rejection for at least 12 months. The relationship between TTV load and clinical outcomes such as severe infections will be analysed and compared against that from other common biomarkers and previously published predictive scores. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study was approved by the SingHealth Centralised Institutional Review Board (2023/2170). The results will be presented at conferences and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05836636.

An outpatient model of care for COVID-19 infected kidney transplant patients - The hospital-at-home.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is protracted and episodic surges from viral variants continue to place significant strain on healthcare systems. COVID-19 vaccines, antiviral therapy and monoclonal antibodies have significantly reduced COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality. Concurrently, telemedicine has gained acceptance as a model of care and a tool for remote monitoring. These advances allow us to safely transit our inpatient-based care for COVID-19 infected kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) to a hospital-at-home (HaH) model of care. METHODS: KTRs with PCR-proven COVID-19 infection were triaged by teleconsult and laboratory tests. Suitable patients were enrolled into the HaH. Remote monitoring via teleconsults were conducted daily until patients were de-isolated based on a time-based criterion. Monoclonal antibodies were administered in a dedicated clinic where indicated. RESULTS: Eighty-one KTRs with COVID-19 were enrolled into the HaH between February and June 2022, 70 (86.4%) completed HaH recovery without complications. Eleven (13.6%) patients required inpatient hospitalization for medical issues (n = 8) and weekend monoclonal antibody infusion (n = 3). Patients requiring inpatient hospitalization had longer transplant vintage (15 years vs. 10 years, p = .03), anaemia (haemoglobin 11.6 g/dL vs. 13.1 g/dL, p = .01), lower eGFR (39.8 vs. 62.9 mL/min/1.73 m2 , p < .05) and lower RBD levels (<50 AU/mL vs. 1435 AU/mL, p = .02). HaH saved 753 inpatient patient-days with no deaths observed. Hospital admission rates from the HaH programme was 13.6%. Patients who required inpatient care had direct access admission without utilization of emergency department resources. CONCLUSION: Selected KTRs with COVID-19 infection can be safely managed in a HaH programme; alleviating strain on inpatient and emergency healthcare resources.

Impact of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis over the past decade.

OBJECTIVE: This is a study on the demographics and clinical outcomes including the response to therapy of patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) over the past decade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All histologically proven FSGS cases diagnosed between 2008 and 2018 were analyzed for their clinical, laboratory, and histological characteristics including treatment that could influence the disease progression and renal outcome of these patients. We used the Columbia Classification for FSGS for the renal biopsy. RESULTS: There were two subgroups of FSGS patients; those with nephrotic syndrome and those without nephrotic syndrome. Patients with FSGS with non-nephrotic syndrome had poorer survival rates compared to the nephrotic group. For those without nephrotic syndrome, the indices responsible for progression involved more tubular and blood vessel lesions in addition to glomerular pathology compared to those with nephrotic syndrome. Patients with FSGS with nephrotic syndrome responded to immunosuppressants more favorably compared to the non-nephrotic group, though both groups responded with decreasing proteinuria. The nephrotic group had a better 10-year long-term survival rate of 92 vs. 72% for the non-nephrotic group (log-rank 0.002). The 10-year survival for the whole group of FSGS patients was 64%. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that in FSGS, one of the significant components of the disease is the vascular and tubular damage, apart from the underlying glomerular pathology, resulting in varying responses to therapy, and the difference is reflected in inherently poorer response to immunosuppressant therapy in those without nephrotic syndrome as opposed to those with nephrotic syndrome, who responded to immunosuppressant therapy (IST) with stabilization of renal function and had less blood vessel and tubular lesions.

Bariatric Surgery in Kidney Transplant Candidates and Recipients: Experience at an Asian Center.

Background: Kidney transplant (KT) candidates and recipients with obesity experience more frequent complications such as infection, poorer allograft outcomes, diabetes, and mortality, limiting their eligibility for transplantation. Bariatric surgery (BS) is not commonly performed among KT patients given concerns about immunosuppression absorption, wound healing, infections, and graft outcomes. Its role has not been described before in an Asian KT patient setting. Methods: A retrospective review of patients who underwent BS at the largest KT center in Singapore from 2008 to 2020 was conducted. Metabolic outcomes, immunosuppression doses, graft outcomes, and mortality were studied. Results: Seven patients underwent BS and KT (4 underwent BS before KT, 3 underwent BS after KT; 4 underwent sleeve gastrectomy, 3 underwent gastric bypass). Mean total weight losses of 23.8% at 1 year and 18.6% at 5 years post-BS were achieved. Among the five patients with diabetes, glycemic control improved after BS. There were no deaths in the first 90 days or graft loss in the first year after KT and BS. Patients who underwent BS after KT had no significant changes in immunosuppression dose. Conclusion: BS can be safely performed in KT recipients and candidates and results in sustainable weight losses and improvements in metabolic comorbidities. Although no major complications were observed in our study, close monitoring of this complex group of patients is imperative.

Complications of Percutaneous Kidney Allograft Biopsy: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Kidney biopsy is important to guide the management of allograft dysfunction but has a risk of complications. This review aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors of complications after kidney allograft biopsy. METHODS: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, or case-control studies indexed on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry, and ClinicalTrials.gov, limited to the English language, from January 2000 to December 2020, including adult and pediatric kidney allograft biopsies. Primary outcomes were gross hematuria, bleeding requiring transfusion, and major complications (requiring interventions such as blood transfusion or surgical or radiological interventions). RESULTS: The review included 72 studies (40 082 biopsies). The quality of included studies was suboptimal. Pooled rates of gross hematuria, bleeding requiring transfusion, and major complications were 3.18% [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 2.31-4.19], 0.31% (95% CI, 0.15-0.52) and 0.89% (95% CI, 0.61-1.22), respectively. Gross hematuria rates were lower in high-income compared with middle-income countries (2.59% versus 6.44%, P < 0.01) and biopsies performed by radiology as compared with nephrology departments (1.25% versus 3.71%, P < 0.01). Blood transfusion rates were lower in pediatrics than adults (0.0% versus 0.65%, P < 0.01). Major complications were lower in biopsies performed by specialists as compared with trainees (0.02% versus 3.64%, P < 0.01). Graft loss and mortality were extremely rare. Limitations included missing data, few randomized controlled trials, and possible publication bias. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of complications after kidney allograft biopsy was low. Given the low quality of included studies, risk factors for complications should be further examined in future studies.

Everolimus-facilitated calcineurin inhibitor reduction in Asian de novo kidney transplant recipients: 2-year results from the subgroup analysis of the TRANSFORM study.

OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the efficacy and safety of an everolimus with reduced-exposure calcineurin inhibitor (EVR+rCNI) versus mycophenolic acid with standard-exposure CNI (MPA+sCNI) regimen in Asian patients from the TRANSFORM study. METHODS: In this 24-month, open-label study, de novo kidney transplant recipients (KTxRs) were randomized (1:1) to receive EVR+rCNI or MPA+sCNI, along with induction therapy and corticosteroids. RESULTS: Of the 2037 patients randomized in the TRANSFORM study, 293 were Asian (EVR+rCNI, N = 136; MPA+sCNI, N = 157). At month 24, EVR+rCNI was noninferior to MPA+sCNI for the binary endpoint of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 50 ml/min/1.73 m2 or treated biopsy-proven acute rejection (27.0% vs. 29.2%, P = .011 for a noninferiority margin of 10%). Graft loss and death were reported for one patient each in both arms. Mean eGFR was higher in EVR+rCNI versus MPA+sCNI (72.2 vs. 66.3 ml/min/1.73 m2 , P = .0414) even after adjusting for donor type and donor age (64.3 vs. 59.3 ml/min/1.73 m2 , P = .0582). Overall incidence of adverse events was comparable. BK virus (4.4% vs. 12.1%) and cytomegalovirus (4.4% vs. 13.4%) infections were significantly lower in the EVR+rCNI arm. CONCLUSION: This subgroup analysis in Asian de novo KTxRs demonstrated that the EVR+rCNI versus MPA+sCNI regimen provides comparable antirejection efficacy, better renal function, and reduced viral infections (NCT01950819).

Cytomegalovirus-associated pseudomembranous colitis in a kidney transplant recipient.

Pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) is classically associated with Clostridium difficile infection. We report a rare case of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-associated PMC in a 52-year-old female patient who had undergone kidney transplantation more than 20 years ago and was on low dose prednisolone and ciclosporin. She presented with an acute history of fever, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhoea on admission. Computed tomography of the abdomen showed extensive colitis, and colonoscopy revealed extensive pseudomembrane formation. Multiple tests for Clostridium difficile and other common microbiological causes of colitis were negative. CMV DNAemia and colonic biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of CMV colitis. The patient responded to prompt CMV treatment, as demonstrated by clinical, endoscopic, and histological response. While CMV is a common pathogen in the solid organ transplant population that is familiar to most transplant physicians, it may present atypically as PMC. Here, we review the literature on CMV-associated PMC and its relevance to solid organ transplant recipients. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of CMV-associated PMC in a kidney transplant recipient.

Nodular glomerulosclerosis in a kidney transplant recipient with impaired glucose tolerance: diabetic or idiopathic? A case report and literature review.

Nodular glomerulosclerosis, typically diagnosed in patients with diabetes mellitus, has been reported in native kidneys of pre-diabetic patients but similar cases in kidney transplant recipients are lacking. We describe a case of nodular glomerulosclerosis in a kidney transplant recipient who had not been found to be diabetic despite regular screening and discuss the implications for the pathogenesis and diagnosis of nodular glomerulosclerosis and screening of post-transplant diabetes mellitus.

Hepatitis C virus antigen detection is an appropriate test for screening and early diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection in at-risk populations and immunocompromised hosts.

Early diagnosis remains key for effective prevention and treatment. Unfortunately, current screening with anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV Ab) test may have limited utility in the diagnosis of HCV infection and reinfection. This is of special concern to at-risk population, such as immunocompromised hosts and end-stage renal failure patients on hemodialysis. HCV antigen (Ag) could be useful in identifying the ongoing infection in such clinical scenarios. Hence, we aimed to study the utility of HCV Ag testing for the diagnosis of acute and chronic hepatitis C. Of 89 samples studied, 19 were from acute hepatitis C patients who were immunocompromised or were on hemodialysis, 43 were from active chronic hepatitis C patients and 27 were from patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. All samples were tested for HCV Ag using the Abbott ARCHITECT HCV Ag assay. HCV Ag was reactive in 19/19 samples from acute hepatitis C patients and 42/43 samples from active chronic hepatitis C patients. It was nonreactive in all samples from treated patients. The test showed a sensitivity and specificity of 98.4% and 100.0%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 100.0% and 96.4%, respectively. The HCV antigen test has high clinical sensitivity and specificity and is useful for the diagnosis of acute and chronic hepatitis C infection in at-risk and immunocompromised patients. Its short turnaround time and relatively low cost are advantageous for use in patients on hemodialysis and other at-risk patients who require monitoring of HCV infection and reinfection.

Impact of pre-transplant biopsy on 5-year outcomes of expanded criteria donor kidney transplantation.

AIM: Compared to Standard Criteria Donors (SCD), Expanded Criteria Donor (ECD) kidneys are associated with poorer outcomes, although pre-transplant biopsy may mitigate risks. This study assessed 5-year outcomes of deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients, comparing recipients of ECD allografts evaluated histologically to recipients of SCD and ECD kidneys assessed clinically. METHODS: This is a single-centre retrospective study. From November 2005 to December 2009 (Era 1), donors were assessed clinically for suitability for kidney donation. From December 2009 to October 2017 (Era 2), kidneys from ECDs and diabetics underwent pre-transplant biopsy and were allocated based on Remuzzi score. Outcomes of Era 1 and 2 recipients were compared. RESULTS: ECD kidney transplantation increased from 30.4% to 40.0% from Era 1 to 2. Univariable Cox regression, stratified by transplant era, found that 5-year graft loss was highest with Era 1 ECD (HR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.5, P = .027) while graft loss for Era 2 ECD recipients was similar to SCD recipients. There was no difference in 5-year recipient survival. Amongst Era 1 ECD recipients, 51.2% experienced rejection compared to 30.8-41.5% for other subgroups. Five-year eGFR was higher with Era 2 ECD at 48.4 (33.3-60.7) ml/min/1.73 m2 compared to 42.2 (35.8-57.3) ml/min/1.73 m2 for Era 1 ECD. However, these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Introduction of pre-transplant biopsy assessment may be associated with improved outcomes of ECD kidney recipients such that they are now comparable to SCD kidney recipients, with benefits persisting over 5 years.

Waitlisted Transplant Candidates' Attitudes and Concerns Toward Transplantation During COVID-19.

BACKGROUND In solid organ transplant (SOT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can contribute to a severe clinical course and an increased risk of death. Thus, patients awaiting a SOT or HSCT face the dilemma of choosing between a life-saving treatment that presents a significant threat of COVID-19 and the risk of waitlist dropout, progression of disease, or mortality. The lack of established literature on COVID-19 complicates the issue as patients, particularly those with inadequate health literacy, may not have the resources needed to navigate these decisions. MATERIAL AND METHODS We conducted a standardized phone survey of patients awaiting SOT or HSCT to assess the prevalence of inadequate health literacy and attitudes toward transplant during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS Seventy-one patients completed the survey, with a response rate of 84.5%. Regardless of health literacy, most waitlisted candidates recognized that the current pandemic is a serious situation affecting their care and that COVID-19 poses a significant risk to their health. Despite the increased risks, most patients reported they would choose immediate transplantation if there was no foreseeable end to the pandemic, and especially if the medical urgency did not permit further delay. There were no differences in responses across the patient waitlist groups for heart, kidney, liver, and stem cell transplant. CONCLUSIONS These findings can help transplant centers decide how transplantation services should proceed during this pandemic and can be used to educate patients and guide discussions about informed consent for transplant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Managing a Renal Transplant Programme During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Practical Experience from a Singapore Transplant Centre.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly affected the way healthcare is delivered in Singapore. Healthcare services such as renal transplantation had to rapidly adjust and meet the needs to (1) protect patients and staff, (2) ramp up, conserve or redeploy resources while (3) ensuring that critical services remained operational. This paper aims to describe the experience of the renal transplant programme at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in responding to the risks and constraints posed by the pandemic. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This is a review and summary of the SGH renal transplant programme's policy and protocols that were either modified or developed in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. RESULTS: A multi-pronged approach was adopted to respond to the challenges of COVID-19. These included ensuring business continuity by splitting the transplant team into different locations, adopting video and tele-consults to minimise potential patient exposure to COVID-19, streamlining work processes using electronic forms, ensuring safe paths for patients who needed to come to hospital, ring-fencing and testing new inpatients at risk for COVID-19, enhancing precautionary measures for transplant surgery, ensuring a stable supply chain of immunosuppression, and sustaining patient and staff education programmes via video conferencing. CONCLUSIONS: Though the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced access to kidney transplantation, opportunities arose to adopt telemedicine into mainstream transplant practice as well as use electronic platforms to streamline work processes. Screening protocols were established to ensure that transplantation could be performed safely, while webinars reached out to empower patients to take precautions against COVID-19.

Bleeding Complications and Adverse Events After Desmopressin Acetate for Percutaneous Renal Transplant Biopsy.

INTRODUCTION: Percutaneous renal biopsy remains critical for the workup of renal allograft dysfunction but is associated with the risk of bleeding. Prophylactic intravenous desmopressin has been proposed to reduce bleeding risk in native renal biopsies, but its efficacy in the renal transplant population is unclear and adverse events such as severe hyponatraemia have been reported. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a single-centre retrospective cohort study involving adult (≥21 years old) renal transplant recipients with impaired renal function (serum creatinine ≥150 µmol/L) who underwent ultrasound-guided renal allograft biopsies from 2011‒2015 to investigate the effect of prebiopsy desmopressin on the risk of bleeding and adverse events. RESULTS: Desmopressin was administered to 98 of 195 cases who had lower renal function, lower haemoglobin and more diuretic use. Postbiopsy bleeding was not significantly different between the 2 groups (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.26‒2.43, P = 0.68) but desmopressin increased the risk of postbiopsy hyponatraemia (sodium [Na] <135 mmol/L) (adjusted OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.10‒4.59, P = 0.03). Seven cases of severe hyponatraemia (Na <125 mmol/L) developed in the desmopressin group, while none did in the non-desmopressin group. Amongst those who received desmopressin, risk of hyponatraemia was lower (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09‒0.72, P = 0.01) if fluid intake was <1 L on the day of biopsy. CONCLUSION: Prophylactic desmopressin for renal allograft biopsy may be associated with significant hyponatraemia but its effect on bleeding risk is unclear. Fluid restriction (where feasible) should be recommended when desmopressin is used during renal allograft biopsy. A randomised controlled trial is needed to clarify these outcomes.

Transplantation in Asia during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic: briefs from member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation.

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected 1,029,968 people in Asia as of May 16, 2020. Although Asia was the first continent to be affected, many countries in the region continue to battle COVID-19, which challenges the way transplant programs provide their services. Given the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, the countermeasures in response to COVID-19 are as potentially diverse. This review reports the experiences of transplant services in member countries of the Asian Society of Transplantation (AST) as well as provides a platform for sharing of best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. AST invited member countries to provide a short description of their transplant experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever information is available, countries were asked to provide information on COVID-19 related statistics, status of transplant programs, mitigation measures taken to prevent COVID-19, and other areas of transplant programs impacted by COVID-19. Ten countries responded to the invitation of which seven still have active transplant programs at varying levels of activity. All countries have protocols for donor/recipient screening and countermeasures to prevent COVID-19 infections in recipients and healthcare providers. Interestingly, these countries report only 16 transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection but no cases of donor-transmitted COVID-19 infection. Despite the diversity of healthcare systems in Asia, transplant centers in Asia have taken appropriate precautions to avoid COVID-19 infections, though the long-term impact of COVID-19 remains unclear.

The use of intravesical cidofovir for the treatment of adenovirus-associated haemorrhagic cystitis in a kidney transplant recipient.

Adenovirus is an important cause of haemorrhagic cystitis in kidney transplant recipients. The optimal treatment for adenovirus-associated haemorrhagic cystitis (AAHC) is unknown. Intravenous cidofovir may be effective, but nephrotoxicity is a major concern. The use of intravesical cidofovir for viral haemorrhagic cystitis has been reported in haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients and may be associated with a lower risk of nephrotoxicity, but its use has not been reported in kidney transplant recipients. We report the use of intravesical cidofovir for the treatment of AAHC in a kidney transplant recipients, along with a review of the literature.

Desmopressin for the prevention of bleeding in percutaneous kidney biopsy: efficacy and hyponatremia.

BACKGROUND: Desmopressin is used to reduce bleeding complications for kidney biopsies with azotemia but little is known about desmopressin-induced hyponatremia in these individuals. We aimed to evaluate the impact of desmopressin prophylaxis on severe hyponatremia and bleeding after kidney biopsies in individuals with renal impairment. METHOD: This is a single-center retrospective cohort study of consecutive adults with serum creatinine ≥ 150 µmol/L and had ultrasound-guided percutaneous native or transplant kidney biopsies between June 2011 and July 2015. Data were retrieved from electronic medical records. Primary outcomes were the use of desmopressin prophylaxis and severe hyponatremia (serum sodium ≤ 125 mmol/L) within 7 days post-biopsy. Secondary outcome was post-biopsy bleeding. RESULTS: 240 native kidney and 196 allograft biopsies were performed. Median age was 51 (IQR 42.3, 60) years and eGFR was 21.9 (12.9, 30.1) ml/min/1.73 m2. Although patients prescribed desmopressin prophylaxis (n = 226) had higher serum creatinine [279 (201, 392) vs. 187 (160, 241), p < 0.001], bleeding (15.0% vs. 13.3%, p = 0.60) was not significantly different with and without desmopressin. Severe hyponatremia occurred in 30 biopsies (6.9%) with nadir serum sodium level of 122 (119, 124) mmol/L at 3 (2, 5) days after biopsy, more frequently among those with desmopressin prophylaxis (10.7% vs. 3.0%, p = 0.002). Multi-variate analysis found that pre-biopsy serum sodium level [adjusted OR 0.80 (95% CI 0.72, 0.90), p < 0.001] and desmopressin prophylaxis [adjusted OR 4.02 (95% CI 1.58, 10.21), p = 0.003] were independently associated with severe hyponatremia after kidney biopsy. CONCLUSION: Pre-biopsy desmopressin was associated with severe hyponatremia in individuals with renal impairment; hence, susceptible patients given desmopressin should be closely monitored.

Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of malignancies after kidney transplantation in Singapore: a 12-year experience.

INTRODUCTION: Data on malignancy after kidney transplantation (KTX) is limited in our region, leading to challenges in the care of renal allograft recipients. We aimed to examine the epidemiology, risk factors and outcomes of post-KTX patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of 491 patients who underwent KTX from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2011. Data linkage analysis was done between our centre and the National Registry of Diseases Office to determine the standardised incidence ratio (SIR), standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and risk factors for malignancy after KTX. RESULTS: 31 patients (61.3% male) developed malignancy during this period, and their median age at diagnosis was 50 (range 18-65) years. Median time to malignancy diagnosis was 2.6 (range 0.3-7.9) years, with cumulative incidence of 1%, 4% and 10% at one, five and ten years, respectively. The commonest malignancy type was lymphoma, followed by kidney cancer, colorectal cancer and malignancy of the male genital organs. Multivariate analysis identified cyclosporine use as an independent risk factor for malignancy. Compared to the general population, KTX recipients had higher malignancy and mortality rates after malignancy diagnosis (SIR 3.36; SMR 9.45). Survival rates for KTX recipients with malignancy versus those without malignancy were 100%, 93% and 64% versus 97%, 93% and 83% at one, five and ten years, respectively. CONCLUSION: KTX was associated with higher mortality and incidence of malignancy. Newer immunosuppressive agents and induction therapies were not found to be risk factors for malignancy, possibly due to our relatively small sample size.

Dermatological conditions seen in renal transplant recipients in a Singapore tertiary hospital.

INTRODUCTION: Lifelong immunosuppression after renal transplant exerts effects on the recipients' skin, including skin infections, skin cancers and drug-induced skin disorders. Our study aimed to determine the epidemiology of skin conditions among renal transplant recipients in the largest tertiary hospital in Singapore. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of kidney transplant recipients at Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2013. Among these patients, the clinical data of patients who sought skin consultations with either dermatologists or plastic surgeons within the hospital was captured. RESULTS: A total of 178 patients were included in our study. There were 88 (45.6%) skin infections, 23 (11.9%) drug-induced skin conditions, 9 (4.7%) skin cancers and 73 (37.8%) other skin conditions. Skin infection was the predominant reason for consultation, with viral warts (15%, n = 29) being the most common. Of the nine cases in our cohort with skin cancer, there were three cases of basal cell carcinoma, three cases of Bowen's disease, two cases of extramammary Paget's disease and one case of squamous cell carcinoma. Drug-induced skin conditions, mainly attributable to long-term steroids and cyclosporin use, were represented by acne (9.3%, n = 18) and sebaceous hyperplasia (2.6%, n = 5). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated the spectrum of skin conditions that can be expected after renal transplantation. We wish to highlight the importance of careful dermatological screening and long-term follow-up for these patients, in order to reduce post-transplant skin complications.