Authors: Rhondalyn C. McLean, Peter P. Reese, Michael Acker, Pavan Atluri, Christian Bermudez, Lee Goldberg, Peter L. Abt, Emily A. Blumberg, Vivianna M. Van Deerlin, K. Rajender Reddy, Roy D. Bloom, Richard Hasz, Lawrence Suplee, Anna Sicilia, Ashley Woodards, Muhammad Nauman Zahid, Katharine J. Bar, Paige Porrett, Matthew Levine, Nicole Hornsby, Caren Gentile, Jennifer Smith, David S. Goldberg
Summary: The advent of direct‐acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) has generated tremendous interest in transplanting organs from HCV‐infected donors. We conducted a single‐arm trial of orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) from HCV‐infected donors into uninfected recipients, followed by elbasvir/grazoprevir treatment after recipient HCV was first detected (NCT03146741; sponsor: Merck). We enrolled OHT candidates aged 40‐65 years; LVAD support and liver disease were exclusions. We accepted hearts from HCV‐genotype 1 donors. From 5/16/2017 to 4/10/2016238, 20 patients consented for screening and enrolled, and 10 (median age 52.5 years; 80% male) underwent OHT. The median wait from UNOS opt‐in for HCV nucleic‐acid‐test (NAT)+ donor offers to OHT was 39 days (IQR 17, 57). The median donor age was 34 years (IQR 31, 37). Initial recipient HCV RNA levels ranged from 25 IU/mL ‐ 40 million IU/mL, but all 10 patients had rapid decline in HCV NAT after elbasvir/grazoprevir treatment. Nine recipients achieved SVR‐12. The 10th recipient had a positive cross‐match, experienced antibody‐mediated rejection and multi‐organ failure, and died on day 79. No serious adverse events occurred from HCV transmission or treatment. These short‐term results suggest that HCV‐negative candidates transplanted with HCV‐infected hearts have acceptable outcomes.
Source: American Journal of Transplantation, 02/15/19