Experiment shows hep C-infected kidneys good for transplant
NEW YORK — Some patients in desperate need of a kidney transplant participated in a bold experiment where they received organs infected with hepatitis C. The gamble paid off.
Their new organs are working fine thanks to medication that got rid of the virus, researchers reported Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
It was a small study involving just 20 patients.
“When there’s such a bad organ shortage, we can’t just do business as usual,” said Dr. Peter Reese, a University of Pennsylvania kidney specialist who led the study.
In the United States, almost 95,000 people are on the national kidney waiting list but only 19,850 received a transplant in 2017, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. That covers only about 20 percent of all cases.
Hepatitis C is an infection that can quietly destroy someone’s liver if untreated. Transplanting other organs from patients with the virus can infect the recipients. But with powerful new drugs now available that promise to cure them, Reese’s team decided to test if it’s safe to transplant infected kidneys to people who don’t already have the virus — but who might not survive the wait for a healthy organ.
Twelve weeks of hepatitis treatment cleared the virus in all 20 patients tested so far. Compared to patients who received uninfected organs, their new kidneys work just as well, even a year after the procedure. Merck & Co. helped fund the research and provided the pills in the study.
Kiran Shelat, a 65-yearold civil engineer from Yardley, Penn., had spent two years on the transplant waiting list before signing up for the experiment.
He now feels energetic, and can work out in the gym and attend family events. So far, there’s no sign of the virus in his bloodstream.
“This is a lifesaver,” Shelat said. “Get off the list; get the kidney. There is nothing to be afraid of.”
Getting an infected kidney may outweigh the burden of dialysis, which many patients find physically exhausting, said Dr. Matthew Cooper, a transplant surgeon at Georgetown University Hospital.
“People have to plan their entire lives around dialysis,” said Cooper, who was not part of the research. “It is a rotten lifestyle.”