Risk acceptance of human T-lymphotropic virus infection in solid organ transplantation-A survey of Atlantic Canadian ambulatory patients.

BACKGROUND

Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) has an estimated prevalence of 12 per 100 000 in the general Canadian population (with higher rates in distinct groups) and is most commonly transmitted by breast feeding, sexual intercourse, sharing injection tools, and blood transfusions. A minority of those infected will develop severe disease. Health Canada mandates that people who are positive for HTLV are not suitable to be solid organ donors. Given the apparent low-disease burden of HTLV in Canada, we explored HTLV risk tolerance among patients, in the context of organ transplantations.

METHODS

Using telephone, and in-person questionnaires, we assessed willingness of patients to accept the risk of HTLV infection in hypothetical scenarios in which they required an organ transplant for survival.

RESULTS

Seventy-four outpatients attending various medical clinics participated in the survey. In a standard gamble scenario, 37.5% of respondents would have accepted a solid organ transplant regardless of HTLV risk, as compared to 27.3% and 24.6% accepting organ transplantation if there was a risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or of human virus Y (HVY; a fictitious virus describing HTLV in terms of neurological outcomes), respectively. Similarly, the median longevity traded to ensure a virus-free organ was 4-5 years regarding all viruses, except for HVY, for which the median time exchanged to ensure a virus-free organ was 10 (out of a possible 20) years.

CONCLUSIONS

These data suggest that patients, though willing to accept some risk of viral infection, would not be willing to forgo HTLV screening of solid organs.