Published online Feb 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i2.337
Peer-review started: November 28, 2017
First decision: December 18, 2017
Revised: January 10, 2018
Accepted: February 5, 2018
Article in press: February 5, 2018
Published online: February 27, 2018
Processing time: 96 Days and 4.6 Hours
To assess outcomes of kidney transplantation including patient and allograft outcomes in recipients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and the trends of patient’s outcomes overtime.
A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Database from inception through October 2017. Studies that reported odds ratios (OR) of mortality or renal allograft failure after kidney transplantation in patients with HBV [defined as hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive] were included. The comparison group consisted of HBsAg-negative kidney transplant recipients. Effect estimates from the individual study were extracted and combined using random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird. The protocol for this meta-analysis is registered with PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; no. CRD42017080657).
Ten observational studies with a total of 87623 kidney transplant patients were enrolled. Compared to HBsAg-negative recipients, HBsAg-positive status was significantly associated with increased risk of mortality after kidney transplantation (pooled OR = 2.48; 95%CI: 1.61-3.83). Meta-regression showed significant negative correlations between mortality risk after kidney transplantation in HBsAg-positive recipients and year of study (slopes = -0.062, P = 0.001). HBsAg-positive status was also associated with increased risk of renal allograft failure with pooled OR of 1.46 (95%CI: 1.08-1.96). There was also a significant negative correlation between year of study and risk of allograft failure (slopes = -0.018, P = 0.002). These associations existed in overall analysis as well as in limited cohort of hepatitis C virus-negative patients. We found no publication bias as assessed by the funnel plots and Egger’s regression asymmetry test with P = 0.18 and 0.13 for the risks of mortality and allograft failure after kidney transplantation in HBsAg-positive recipients, respectively.
Among kidney transplant patients, there are significant associations between HBsAg-positive status and poor outcomes including mortality and allograft failure. However, there are potential improvements in patient and graft survivals in HBsAg-positive recipients overtime.
Core tip: Hepatitis B is one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Despite advances in medicine, chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is currently incurable. In addition, clinical outcomes of kidney transplantation in HBV infected patients are still unclear. To further assess these outcomes, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess patient and allograft outcomes after kidney transplantation in patients with HBV Infection. We found significant associations between HBV positive status and poor outcomes including 2.5-fold increased risk of mortality and 1.5-fold increased risk of allograft loss.