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Assessment of risk for transplant‐transmissible infectious encephalitis among deceased organ donors
Author(s) -
Smalley Hannah K.,
Anand Nishi,
Buczek Dylan,
Buczek Nicholas,
Lin Timothy,
Rajore Tanay,
Wacker Muriel,
Basavaraju Sridhar V.,
Gurbaxani Brian M.,
Hammett Teresa,
Keskinocak Pinar,
Sokol Joel,
Kuehnert Matthew J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/tid.12933
Subject(s) - medicine , encephalitis , infectious disease (medical specialty) , organ transplantation , intensive care medicine , transplantation , immunology , pediatrics , disease , virus
Background There were 13 documented clusters of infectious encephalitis transmission via organ transplant from deceased donors to recipients during 2002‐2013. Hence, organs from donors diagnosed with encephalitis are often declined because of concerns about the possibility of infection, given that there is no quick and simple test to detect causes of infectious encephalitis. Methods We constructed a database containing cases of infectious and non‐infectious encephalitis. Using statistical imputation, cross‐validation, and regression techniques, we determined deceased organ donor characteristics, including demographics, signs, symptoms, physical exam, and laboratory findings, predictive of infectious vs non‐infectious encephalitis, and developed a calculator which assesses the risk of infection. Results Using up to 12 predictive patient characteristics (with a minimum of 3, depending on what information is available), the calculator provides the probability that a donor may have infectious vs non‐infectious encephalitis, improving the prediction accuracy over current practices. These characteristics include gender, fever, immunocompromised state (other than HIV ), cerebrospinal fluid elevation, altered mental status, psychiatric features, cranial nerve abnormality, meningeal signs, focal motor weakness, Babinski's sign, movement disorder, and sensory abnormalities. Conclusion In the absence of definitive diagnostic testing in a potential organ donor, infectious encephalitis can be predicted with a risk score. The risk calculator presented in this paper represents a prototype, establishing a framework that can be expanded to other infectious diseases transmissible through solid organ transplantation.