BACKGROUND: Transplant tourism is the term used for patients who travel abroad for transplantation. Transplant tourism has always been surrounded with controversy regarding how these organs were obtained, the donor's care after transplantation, and the recipient outcome. Many authors have found that the outcome of the recipients in transplant tourism is inferior to those transplanted in their own countries. However, most these studies were small, with the latest one including only 33 patients. Here, we describe the outcome of 93 patients who were transplanted abroad compared with local transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All transplant patients who were followed up at our Nephrology Clinic from 1998 until 2008 were identified using our data base system. We selected patients transplanted from 2003 and forward because the computerized system for laboratory and electronic records began operation that year. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients were identified (93 in the tourist group and 72 in the local one). Transplant tourists had a higher rate of acute rejection in the first year compared with local transplantation (27.9% vs. 9.9, P=0.005), higher mean creatinine at 6 months and 1 year (120 vs. 101 micromol/L, P=0.0007, 113 vs. 98 micromol/L, P=0.008). There was no statistical difference in graft or patient survival in 1 or 2 years after transplantation. However, transplant tourist had a higher rate of cytomegalovirus infection (15.1% vs. 5.6%, P=0.05) and hepatitis C seroconversion (7.5% vs. 0%, P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Transplant tourists had a more complex posttransplantation course with higher incidence of acute rejection and infectious complications.
BACKGROUND: Transplant tourism is the term used for patients who travel abroad for transplantation. Transplant tourism has always been surrounded with controversy regarding how these organs were obtained, the donor's care after transplantation, and the recipient outcome. Many authors have found that the outcome of the recipients in transplant tourism is inferior to those transplanted in their own countries. However, most these studies were small, with the latest one including only 33 patients. Here, we describe the outcome of 93 patients who were transplanted abroad compared with local transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All transplant patients who were followed up at our Nephrology Clinic from 1998 until 2008 were identified using our data base system. We selected patients transplanted from 2003 and forward because the computerized system for laboratory and electronic records began operation that year. RESULTS: A total of 165 patients were identified (93 in the tourist group and 72 in the local one). Transplant tourists had a higher rate of acute rejection in the first year compared with local transplantation (27.9% vs. 9.9, P=0.005), higher mean creatinine at 6 months and 1 year (120 vs. 101 micromol/L, P=0.0007, 113 vs. 98 micromol/L, P=0.008). There was no statistical difference in graft or patient survival in 1 or 2 years after transplantation. However, transplant tourist had a higher rate of cytomegalovirus infection (15.1% vs. 5.6%, P=0.05) and hepatitis C seroconversion (7.5% vs. 0%, P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Transplant tourists had a more complex posttransplantation course with higher incidence of acute rejection and infectious complications.
Authors: Arthur J Matas; Sally Satel; Stephen Munn; Janet Radcliffe Richards; Angeles Tan-Alora; Frederike J A E Ambagtsheer; Micheal D H Asis; Leo Baloloy; Edward Cole; Jeff Crippin; David Cronin; Abdallah S Daar; James Eason; Richard Fine; Sander Florman; Richard Freeman; John Fung; Wulf Gaertner; Robert Gaston; Nasrollah Ghahramani; Ahad Ghods; Michelle Goodwin; Thomas Gutmann; Nadey Hakim; Benjamin Hippen; Ajit Huilgol; Igal Kam; Arlene Lamban; Walter Land; Alan Langnas; Reynaldo Lesaca; Gary Levy; RoseMarie Liquette; William H Marks; Charles Miller; Enrique Ona; Glenda Pamugas; Antonio Paraiso; Thomas G Peters; David Price; Gurch Randhawa; Alan Reed; Keith Rigg; Dennis Serrano; Hans Sollinger; Sankaran Sundar; Lewis Teperman; Gert van Dijk; Willem Weimar; Romina Danguilan Journal: Am J Transplant Date: 2011-12-17 Impact factor: 8.086
Authors: Mohamed S Al Riyami; Sulaiman Al Saidi; Badria Al Ghaithi; Anisa Al Maskari; Sadiq Lala; Nabil Mohsin; Lekha Hirshikesan; Naifain Al Kalbani Journal: Oman Med J Date: 2018-01