Incidence and Risk Factors for Cytomegalovirus Disease in a Colombian Cohort of Kidney Transplant Recipients

Incidence and risk factors for cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in a Colombian cohort of kidney transplant recipients. CMV infection and disease are important causes of morbidity and mortality in kidney transplant recipients, and its prevalence varies with economic, geographic, and ethnic factors. Among 1620 records from a Colombian reference center, CMV immunoglobulin (Ig)G seroprevalence was found to be 90.9% among recipients and 90.2% among donors. In 86% (n = 264) of the cases, CMV disease occurred during the first 6 months after the transplantation, and the most frequent clinical presentation was CMV syndrome, followed by gastrointestinal disease. The following parameters were independent predictors of CMV disease: serological status of D+/R+ (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–2.63) and D+/R− (HR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.49–4.93), age of the recipient (HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.03), and receiving more than 30 mg of prednisolone by the end of the first month after transplantation (HR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.22–2.07). Acyclovir prophylaxis or other antiviral agents significantly decreased the risk of disease (HR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.29–0.58 and HR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.20–0.58, respectively). In conclusion, we found a high prevalence of CMV infection in a cohort of Latin American transplant recipients. In accord with findings from other regions, serological status is the main risk factor, prophylaxis with acyclovir is effective, and induction with alemtuzumab does not increase the risk of CMV disease.