Outcomes in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Receiving Organs From a Donor With Fusarium solani Species Complex Meningitis

Authors

• Isabel S Griffin
• Dallas J Smith
• Pallavi Annambhotla
• Jeremy A W Gold
• Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner
• Carol A Kauffman
• Lalitha Gade
• Anastasia Litvintseva
• Daniel Zp Friedman
• Angie G Nishio Lucar
• Tarina C Parpia
• Joshua Lieberman
• Janet Bujan
• Julie Corkrean
• Mukul K Divatia
• Kevin Grimes
• Jiejian Lin
• Constance Mobley
• Mary R Schwartz
• Bashar Hannawi
• Anne Malilay
• Anne O'Boye
• Jeffrey Lysne
• Mrinalini Venkata Subramani
• Hayley Heckmann
• Venice Servellita
• Charles Chiu
• Sridhar V Basavaraju

Language

English

Publication Date

10-1-2024

Journal

Transplant Infectious Disease

DOI

10.1111/tid.14331

PMID

39012471

PMCID

PMC11915123

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

10-1-2025

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Background: Five organs (heart, right lung, liver, right, and left kidneys) from a deceased patient were transplanted into five recipients in four US states; the deceased patient was identified as part of a healthcare-associated fungal meningitis outbreak among patients who underwent epidural anesthesia in Matamoros, Mexico.

Methods: After transplant surgeries occurred, Fusarium solani species complex, a fungal pathogen with a high case-mortality rate, was identified in cerebrospinal fluid from the organ donor by metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and fungal-specific polymerase chain reaction and in plasma by mNGS.

Results: Four of five transplant recipients received recommended voriconazole prophylaxis; four were monitored weekly by serum (1-3)-β-d-glucan testing. All five were monitored for signs of infection for at least 3 months following transplantation. The liver recipient had graft failure, which was attributed to an etiology unrelated to fungal infection. No fungal DNA was identified in sections of the explanted liver, suggesting that F. solani species complex did not contribute to graft failure. The remaining recipients experienced no signs or symptoms suggestive of fusariosis.

Conclusion: Antifungal prophylaxis may be useful in preventing donor-derived infections in recipients of organs from donors that are found to have Fusarium meningitis.

Keywords

Humans, Fusarium, Antifungal Agents, Tissue Donors, Male, Fusariosis, Middle Aged, Female, Voriconazole, Meningitis, Fungal, Adult, Transplant Recipients, Organ Transplantation, Liver Transplantation, Kidney Transplantation, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Aged, fusarium, fungal meningitis

Published Open-Access

yes

Recommended Citation

Griffin, Isabel S; Smith, Dallas J; Annambhotla, Pallavi; et al., "Outcomes in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Receiving Organs From a Donor With Fusarium solani Species Complex Meningitis" (2024). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 3676.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthmed_docs/3676