2 Patients Test Positive for Hepatitis C Following Organ Transplantation

Botched testing at an unnamed tissue bank later resulted in two patients testing positive for hepatitis C after receiving a donor's organs in 2011, according to an analysis by the CDC.

In March 2011, three organs (two kidneys and the liver) from a deceased donor were transplanted into three recipients at a local hospital in Kentucky. Before transplantation, the donor had tested negative for HCV antibody by an organ procurement organization.

 



Tissue also was procured from the donor for possible transplantation. A tissue bank performed an HCV antibody test on the donor's serum specimen that was negative and nucleic acid testing that was positive but misread as negative.

Once this error was identified, repeat nucleic acid testing was performed at the tissue bank and confirmed that the donor was HCV-positive at the time of donation. In late Sept. 2011, the United Network for Organ Sharing notified the CDC that two patients who received the kidney transplants tested positive for hepatitis C virus. In addition, 15 recipients of the donor's musculoskeletal tissues were recommended to receive testing, and as of Dec. 16, 14 recipients tested negative for hepatitis C.

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