Opportunistic Infections in Renal Transplantation —A Case Series

Background: Porto’s Hospital Centre is one of the most active Portuguese hospitals in renal transplantation (performed since 1983). Although increasingly rare, opportunistic infections in transplanted patients are associated with high mortality rate in kidney transplantation and remain a major diagnostic challenge. Methods: We investigated 2041 cases of hospital admissions (from 2004 to 2012), any time after kidney transplantation. We described the infection location, the diagnostic techniques used and the mortality after the infection. Results: We found 82 cases of opportunistic infection caused by Herpes virus (Zoster and simplex), Cytomegalovirus, Polyomavirus, Aspergilus, Alternaria, Mucorales, Candida, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Cryptococcus and Pneumocystis. Conclusions: In this article we highlight the important role of histology/cytology in the diagnostic process of these infections. In many cases prompt diagnosis and treatment are necessary to avoid life-threatening complications and may greatly improve prognosis.