Donors With Positive Blood Culture: Could They Transmit Infections to the Recipients? C. González-Segura, M. Pascual, L. Garcı´a Huete, R. Cañizares, J. Torras, L. Corral, P. Santos, R. Ramos, and M. Pujol ABSTRACT A retrospective analysis of data from January 1996 to June 2004 was performed to evaluate the transmission of bacterial infections from organ donors to recipients. Donors were classified according to blood culture results: group 1 with negative blood culture (n = 216), and group 2 with positive blood cultures (n = 52). The age, cause of death, temperature, leukocytes, and number of organs procured were similar in both groups. Donors of group 2 had significantly more days in the intensive care unit (ICU): group 1 (3.14  3) versus group 2 (4.39  3.38 days P = .038). Fifty-one percent of group 1 and 52% of group 2 received antibiotic treatment, in most cases because of the suspected presence of a respiratory infection. In 22 donors the organisms that yielded in the blood culture were considered potentially pathogenic/contaminants (subgroup 2A) and in 30 donors the organisms were considered pathogenic (subgroup 2B). The demographic profiles of these two subgroups were similar. During the first month after transplantation, kidney and liver recipients were closely monitored. Recipients received wide-spectrum antimicrobial prophylaxis. Ten of 61 renal recipients developed infectious diseases. In nine cases (four in subgroup 2A and five in subgroup 2B) there were urinary infections. One recipient of subgroup 2B developed prostatitis. Six of 34 hepatic recipients developed infectious diseases. Four of the six cases (four in group 2A and five in group 2B) developed catheter infections and two cases of peritoneal infections. We could not find any case where a bacterial blood isolate from a donor matched a positive culture in the corresponding recipient. A longer stay of a donor in the ICU resulted in the more pronounced growth of organisms in blood cultures, as expected. In our experience, organs obtained from a donor with a positive blood culture may be transplanted safely, probably due to the low virulence of the organisms as well as the polymicrobial therapy routinely given to the recipients. T HE ORGAN SHORTAGE and high mortality rate of patients awaiting transplantation have driven the need to broaden the selection criteria of potential donors to include older individuals and even those with cardiovascu- lar risk factors. Bacterial infection is not an unusual event in potential organ donors. Accepting a donor with a positive blood culture is one way to increase the donor pool. The question is whether recipients are infected by grafts from these donors even though all of them are given prophylactic antibiotic therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study reflects the results of a retrospective analysis from January 1996 to June 2004. Serial blood samples, urine samples, and other samples from all donors were routinely obtained for culture before organ procurement. We studied 268 donors and classified them according to blood culture results: group 1, donors with negative blood culture (n = 216) versus group 2, donors with positive blood culture (n = 52). All donors with positive blood cultures were included in this analysis, regardless of the timing of the lab report relative to the donation. Blood cultures that yielded such organisms as Staphylo- coccus epidermidis, other coagulase negative staphylococci, Coryne- From the Transplant Coordination Unit (C.G.-S., M.P., L.G.H., R.C., L.C., P.S.) and Department of Nephrology (J.T., R.R.) and Infection Diseases Unit (M.P.), Bellvitge Hospital, Barcelona, Spain. Address reprint requests to C. González-Segura, MD, Trans- plant Coordination Unit, Hospital de Bellvitge, Feixa Llarga s/n, Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08907 Barcelona, Spain. 0041-1345/05/$–see front matter © 2005 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.transproceed.2005.08.053 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-1710 3664 Transplantation Proceedings, 37, 3664 –3666 (2005)