The increased risk of fatal liver disease in renal transplant patients who are hepatitis Be antigen and/or HBV DNA positive.

To determine whether active viral replication is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in chronic carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) undergoing renal transplantation, we reviewed 23 years of experience at our hospital. Over the period 1966-1989, 42 chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) received renal transplants, 32 of whom had functioning grafts for 12 months or longer. Stored sera were tested for markers of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection, and the serologic findings were correlated with clinical and biochemical data.