Risk Factors and Outcomes of Invasive Aspergillosis in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Case-Control Study of United States Renal Data System Data

Background: Kidney transplant recipients are at increased risk for invasive aspergillosis (IA), a disease with poor outcomes and substantial economic burden. We aimed to determine risk factors for posttransplant IA by using a national database and to assess the association of IA with mortality and allograft failure.

Methods: Using the United States Renal Data System database, we performed a retrospective case-control study of patients who underwent kidney transplant from 1998 through 2017. To evaluate risk factors for IA, we performed conditional logistic regression analysis by comparing characteristics between IA-infected patients and their matched uninfected controls. We performed Cox regression analysis to evaluate the effects of IA on mortality and death-censored allograft failure.

Results: We matched 359 patients with IA to 1436 uninfected controls (1:4). IA was diagnosed at a median of 22.5 months (interquartile range, 5.4-85.2 months) after kidney transplant. Risk factors for IA were Black/African American race, duration of pretransplant hemodialysis, higher Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score, weight loss, chronic pulmonary disease, need for early posttransplant hemodialysis, and a history of cytomegalovirus infection. Receiving an allograft from a living donor was protective against IA. IA was a strong independent predictor of 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 5.02 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 3.58-7.04], P < .001). Additionally, IA was associated with 1-year allograft failure (aHR, 3.37 [95% CI, 1.96-5.77], P < .001).

Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of timely transplant to mitigate the risk of posttransplant IA. An individualized approach to disease prevention is essential to decrease mortality and allograft failure.