| Abstract: | Kidney transplantation is the gold‐standard therapy for select HIV‐positive patients with ESRD. Since the Italian Ministry of Health defined the guidelines for organ donation from HIV‐positive persons in 2018, we report the first case of renal transplantation from an HIV‐positive cadaveric donor in two HIV‐positive recipients in Italy. The donor was a 50‐year‐old male, deceased due to post‐anoxic encephalopathy, with a history of HIV infection in HAART, undetectable viral load, and HCV‐related chronic hepatitis that had been previously treated. The first recipient was a 59‐year‐old female with a prior history of drug addiction, and she suffered from ESRD secondary to HIV nephropathy. The patient followed preoperative HAART with a good viral response and undetectable HIV viral load. She also had a history of HCV‐related chronic hepatitis that had been successfully treated. The right kidney was uneventfully transplanted. The patient developed an asymptomatic reinfection of endogenous BK virus. The second recipient was a 41‐year‐old male with ESRD secondary to polycystic kidney disease. The patient was HIV‐positive in HAART, with a good viro‐immunologic response and an undetectable HIV viral load. He suffered from a severe form of hemophilia A and HCV‐related chronic hepatitis, which had been previously treated with undetectable HCV RNA. The left kidney was uneventfully transplanted. At the end of follow‐up, both patients had a healthy condition with stable renal function, a persistently good viral response and undetectable HIV and HCV viral loads. These encouraging preliminary results seem to confirm the safety and effectiveness of kidney transplantation from select HIV‐positive donors. |
