Transmission of strongyloidiasis by kidney transplant? Disseminated strongyloidiasis in both recipients of kidney allografts from a single cadaver donor.

Abstract

DISSEMINATED strongyloidiasis has been described in renal transplant patients1and the life cycle of the parasite has been reviewed. It is generally supposed that immunosuppression allows activation and clinical expression of a preexistingStrongyloidesinfestation in the recipient. We report the development of strongyloidiasis in two renal transplant patients who received their allografts from the same cadaveric donor. We were unable to find definite evidence ofStrongyloidesinfestation in the autopsy tissue from the donor but submit that the infection may have been transmitted to the recipients with the kidneys at transplantation. Report of Cases The Donor.— A 47-year-old man suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He had no known medical problems except a tendency toward diabetes and no reported gastrointestinal illness. He had been born and raised in the northeastern United States and had worked for more than 20 years as an insulation engineer for a local company. He had