Heart and Lung Transplants From HCV-Infected Donors to Uninfected Recipients

The authors of this single-center open-label pilot trial evaluated the intermediate-term outcomes of patients undergoing either heart (n=8) or lung (n=36) transplantation from donors that had evidence of active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. All patients underwent treatment of HCV antiviral treatment for 4 weeks after transplantation. The primary outcome measured was a composite of a sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after completion of antiviral therapy for HCV infection and graft survival 6 months after transplantation. Of the initial 35 patients who had completed 6 months of follow-up, all patients met the primary outcome. Thus, at intermediate term follow-up, HCV infection was prevented in 100% of patients.