Are any organ transplants between HIV-positive?

Around the world, carrying the HIV virus is an absolute contraindication to organ donation. However, if the recipient of the transplant is also HIV, why not allow a donation from them? That is the possibility that are being raised in the U.S. to circumvent the lack of organs, as announced this week the newspaper 'The New York Times.
For years now carrying the AIDS virus is no longer contraindicated in order to receive an organ transplant, as he explains Dr. Rafael Matesanz, general coordinator of the National Transplant Organization (ONT). However, the rejection of these patients as potential donors has been practically "a dogma of faith," and in fact, in countries like the U.S. itself is prohibited by law.

Transplant in the HIV- Positive

Elmi Muller has been a South African specialist, the first to break with this doctrine and see the success of performing transplants between HIV-positive patients (undetectable viral load and a number of requirements, as they both have the same serotype). "Keep in mind that there is a massive shortage of organs and a very large percentage of the population HIV positive," said Matesanz.

If there was any place in the world where this technique could be done more good than harm that was South Africa, as demonstrated by the results of Muller in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine. Although as Matesanz is quick to clarify, is a possibility that Spain is not even on the table. "If a living donor with HIV is offered to donate to another receptor positive, do not accept it," he says flatly. "Today is not justified."
However, it seems that the U.S. does not close the door entirely to repeal the law prohibiting it and institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are favorable to further investigate the risks and benefits of transplanting organs between donor and recipient carry the AIDS virus.

Organ Transplant and HIV

And it's not forget that these patients continue to have more risk than the general population, although Spain can boast of being the spearhead of transplants to seropositive recipients (previously rejected for fear of the effects could be immunosuppressive medication). "The first kidney was us, and the broader experience with liver is Spanish. In addition, a few months ago the first lung was transplanted to an HIV positive in Spain."

Today, despite the impossibility of giving, having HIV is no longer an absolute incompatibility to receive an organ. And it is not ruled out, at least in some exceptional cases, let it be a donor in the future.