Causes of hypercalcemia in renal transplant recipients: persistent hyperparathyroidism and others

Hypercalcemia is common in patients after kidney transplantation (KTx) and is associated with persistent hyperparathyroidism in the majority of cases. This retrospective, single-center study evaluated the prevalence of hypercalcemia after KTx. KTx recipients were evaluated for 7 years after receiving kidneys from living or deceased donors. A total of 301 patients were evaluated; 67 patients had hypercalcemia at some point during the follow-up period. The median follow-up time for all 67 patients was 62 months (44; 80). Overall, 45 cases of hypercalcemia were classified as related to persistent post-transplant hyperparathyroidism (group A), 16 were classified as "transient post-transplant hypercalcemia" (group B), and 3 had causes secondary to other diseases (1 related to tuberculosis, 1 related to histoplasmosis, and 1 related to lymphoma). The other 3 patients had hypercalcemia of unknown etiology, which is still under investigation. In group A, the onset of hypercalcemia after KTx was not significantly different from that of the other groups, but the median duration of hypercalcemia in group A was 25 months (12.5; 53), longer than in group B, where the median duration of hypercalcemia was only 12 months (10; 15) (P<0.002). The median parathyroid hormone blood levels around 12 months after KTx were 210 pg/mL (141; 352) in group A and 72.5 pg/mL (54; 95) in group B (P<0.0001). Hypercalcemia post-KTx is not infrequent and its prevalence in this center was 22.2%. Persistent hyperparathyroidism was the most frequent cause, but other important etiologies must not be forgotten, especially granulomatous diseases and malignancies.

Candidíase em pacientes transplantados renais / Candidiasis in kidney transplant patients

O objetivo do trabalho foi verificar a prevalência de candidíase em transplantados renais. Foram avaliados os prontuários dos pacientes transplantados no Hospital das Clínicas de Ribeirão Preto de fevereiro de 1968 a fevereiro de 1995. Nesse período foram transplantados 620 pacientes. Destes, 87 apresentaram 107 episódios de candidíase. Locais mais acometidos: trato urinário com 55 episódios, trato respiratório com 28, e trato gastrointestinal com 16. O agente etiológico mais freqüente foi C. albicans com 65 casos seguido de C. tropicalis com 12 e C. glabrata com 11 casos. As infecções do trato urinário mostraram incidência maior (61,7%) nos primeiros 6 meses. A maioria se apresentou clínicamente como infecção bacteriana. No trato respiratório, as infecções foram caracterizadas por recuperação do agente no escarro. No trato gastrointestinal, 9/16 episódios foram esofágicos, com epigastralgia, dor retroesternal, às vezes acompanhados de candidíase oral ou odinofagia. Nos outros episódios o agente foi recuperado nas fezes com quadro clínico de gastroenterite. Nas infecções dos tratos urinário e respiratório, houve associação da candidíase com antibioticoterapia prévia (76% e 67% respectivamente), além de infecções bacterianas concomitantes (34% e 64% respectivamente). As infecções por Candida sp tiveram prevalência geral em torno de 14,5%. A localização predominante foi no trato urinário e, em seguida, nos tratos respiratório e gastrointestinal, apresentando alto índice de associação com antibioticoterapia prévia e infecções bacterianas.

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.