Outcomes of kidney transplantation in patients with hepatitis B virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM To assess outcomes of kidney transplantation including patient and allograft outcomes in recipients with hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection, and the trends of patient’s outcomes overtime.METHODS A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Database from inception through October 2017. Studies that reported odds ratios(OR) of mortality or renal allograft failure after kidney transplantation in patients with HBV [defined as hepatitis B surface antigen(HBs Ag) positive] were included. The comparison group consisted of HBs Agnegative kidney transplant recipients. Effect estimates from the individual study were extracted and combined using random-effect, generic inverse variance method of Der Simonian and Laird. The protocol for this metaanalysis is registered with PROSPERO(International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; no. CRD42017080657).RESULTS Ten observational studies with a total of 87623 kidney transplant patients were enrolled. Compared to HBs Ag-negative recipients, HBs Ag-positive status was significantly associated with increased risk of mortality after kidney transplantation(pooled OR = 2.48; 95%CI: 1.61-3.83). Meta-regression showed significant negative correlations between mortality risk after kidney transplantation in HBs Ag-positive recipients and year of study(slopes =-0.062, P = 0.001). HBs Agpositive status was also associated with increased risk of renal allograft failure with pooled OR of 1.46(95%CI: 1.08-1.96). There was also a significant negative correlation between year of study and risk of allograft failure(slopes =-0.018, P = 0.002). These associations existed in overall analysis as well as in limited cohort of hepatitis C virus-negative patients. We found no publication bias as assessed by the funnel plots and Egger’s regression asymmetry test with P = 0.18 and 0.13 for the risks of mortality and allograft failure after kidney transplantation in HBs Ag-positive recipients, respectively.CONCLUSION Among kidney transplant patients, there are significant associations between HBs Ag-positive status and poor outcomes including mortality and allograft failure. However, there are potential improvements in patient and graft survivals in HBs Ag-positive recipients overtime.