Background: A retrospective serologic study was made of 67 heart-lung and 295 heart transplant recipients (with transplantations at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, England) to determine the incidence and clinical impact of Epstein-Barr virus infection.
Methods: Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen immunofluorescence tests were performed, and the antibody avidity was determined by modifying the washing procedure to include a mild reducing agent (8M urea).
Results: This testing showed that 6.0% of the patients had primary Epstein-Barr virus infections, whereas 17.4% had the reactivation of a past infection. Primary infections were only detected in patients who were Epstein-Barr virus antibody-negative before transplantation, who had received an organ from an Epstein-Barr virus antibody-positive donor. Of the patients with serologically proven Epstein-Barr virus infections, 52.9% had symptoms. Although these were generally mild, five heart and two heart-lung transplant recipients had malignant lymphoma and one heart and one heart-lung transplant recipient had lymphoproliferative disease after Epstein-Barr virus infection. Additional four heart transplant recipients had lymphoma after transplantation. None of these four patients had evidence of active Epstein-Barr virus infection; one was Epstein-Barr virus antibody-negative during the study period and three had stable Epstein-Barr virus virus capsid antigen immunoglobulin G titers throughout.
Conclusions: Epstein-Barr virus infection in organ transplant recipients may lead on to life-threatening lymphoproliferative disease or lymphoma. For this reason it may be beneficial to monitor patients after transplantation for evidence of Epstein-Barr virus infection and to follow the progress of those affected.