A successful regimen for the prevention of seroconversion after transplantation of a heart positive for hepatitis B surface antigen.

We report a case involving orthotopic heart transplantation in which a recipient, known to be serologically negative for hepatitis B virus infection, received a heart from a donor known before transplantation to be hepatitis B surface antigen positive. The recipient was treated prospectively with a combination of hepatitis B immune globulin and hepatitis B vaccine. After 10 months of follow-up, the recipient has not experienced seroconversion or viremia from hepatitis B virus and has remained without symptoms by both clinical and laboratory measurements.