A Longitudinal Molecular Surveillance Study of Human Polyomavirus Viremia in Heart, Kidney, Liver, and Pancreas Transplant Patients

Abstract

In this study of 263 heart, kidney, liver, and pancreas transplant patients, BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV) DNAemia were observed most commonly in kidney and/or pancreas transplant patients (26%), although they were also observed, to a lesser extent, in heart (7%) and liver (4%) transplant patients. The majority of episodes of polyomavirus DNAemia were subclinical, although, in some cases, BKV DNAemia was associated with kidney rejection, and JCV DNAemia was accompanied by nonspecific symptoms. Hence, BKV and JCV DNAemia are not uncommon during the first year after kidney, heart, liver, and pancreas transplantation, and they could be associated with certain clinical syndromes in transplant patients.