West Nile Virus Infection in Liver Transplant Recipient With Neither De Novo Infection nor Donor-Derived Infection: A Case Report

• Published in: Experimental and clinical transplantation Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 59 - 62
• Main Authors: Stulic, Milos, Culafic, Djordje, Jordovic, Jelena, Culafic, Milica, Petrovic, Natasa, Stojimirov, Ivan, Loncar, Zlatibor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Turkey 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Animals; Horses; Kidney Transplantation; Liver Transplantation - adverse effects; Male; Mycophenolic Acid - therapeutic use; West Nile Fever - diagnosis; West Nile Fever - drug therapy; West Nile virus
• ISSN: 1304-0855; 2146-8427
• DOI: 10.6002/ect.2022.0226

West Nile virus was first described in 1937 and has sinceperiodically appearedin variousparts oftheworld by infecting people and horses. Reported infection symptoms and signs may be highly variable, ranging from fever and myalgias to meningoencephalitis. A 59-year-old patient was admitted to the University Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, in September 2018, where livertransplantwasperformedtotreat cirrhosisof ethyl etiology. Immunosuppressive therapy was started immediately after successful transplant, with the patientreceiving methylprednisolone, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil. Mycophenolate mofetil was excluded from therapy on postoperative day 3 because of progressively worse white blood cell count. The patient became febrile on postoperative day 11 (39.6 °C), and arm tremor, nausea, vomiting, and frequent fluid stools occurred. He complained of pain in the muscles and joints of the lower extremities. The next day he experienced occasional disorientation. Neurological findings revealed no signs of acute focal neurological deficit. We performed culture tests to isolate pathological microorganisms, and results were negative in cultures of the blood, urine, feces, ascites, and a smear of the wound and tip of the central venous catheter. Lumbar puncture resulted in a clear cerebrospinal fluid that was sent for analysis that showed significant increases in white blood cell count (94 × 106 cells/L), total proteins (1.61 g/L), and microalbumin (504.5 mg/L), with a reduction of immunoglobulin G. On postoperative day 15, positive serology of West Nile virus immunoglobulin M in cerebrospinal fluid was verified. Intensive monitoring and symptomatic and supportive therapy resulted in clinical and laboratory improvement, and the patient was discharged in good general condition on postoperative day 22. Considering the high risk of posttransplant complications, there remains the question of whether all donors and recipients should be tested forWest Nile virus atthe onset oftransplant.