Tuberculosis in kidney transplant candidates and recipients

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of infectious mortality and morbidity in the world, second only to coronavirus disease 2019. Patients with chronic kidney disease and kidney transplant recipients are at a higher risk of developing TB than the general population. Active TB is difficult to diagnose in this population due to close mimics. All transplant candidates should be screened for latent TB infection and given TB prophylaxis. Patients who develop active TB pre- or post-transplantation should receive multidrug combination therapy of antitubercular therapy for the recommended duration with optimal dose modification as per glomerular filtration rate.