Amanda Lewis, MD, second-year fellow in allergy/immunology, has been invited to present her abstract in June at the 2018 American Transplant Congress in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Lewis performed a retrospective chart review of pediatric renal transplant patients comparing rates of infection-related hospital admissions among patients treated with subcutaneous immune globulin therapy (SCIG) and those given intravenous immune globulin therapy (IVIG). Both types of therapy involve the infusion of blood plasma containing antibodies, generally used for individuals with immunodeficiency diseases or for those, in this particular population, who had received a kidney transplant and were experiencing recurrent infections.

Dr. Lewis reviewed the records of patients referred to pediatric immunology for evaluation of recurrent infections between July 2016 and October 2017. The review revealed that patients treated with SCIG had a greater reduction in infection-related hospital admissions than those on IVIG. Dr. Lewis points out that although the study is limited in sample size and duration of follow-up, it is the first to report on SCIG in pediatric renal transplant patients. This review was performed in collaboration with Diana Zepeda-Orozco, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics – Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, and Mary Beth Fasano, MD, MSPH, Clinical Professor in Immunology.