Acute bacteremia in asplenic renal transplant patients.

Four cases of overwhelming bacteremia were observed in asplenic renal transplant patients 12 to 20 months after transplantation. The bacteriologic findings and presentation of these infections are characteristic of post-splenectomy sepsis reported in nontransplant patients. It is suggested that the absence of the spleen, more than immunosuppression with azathioprine and prednisone, predisposes to these late, uncommon infections after transplantation.