In November 2007, four organ transplant recipients in Chicago contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a deceased "high risk" organ donor. It was a nightmare scenario, to be sure, but it was also an extreme rarity: the first documented case of HIV transmission through an organ transplant in more than 20 years. Still, the ripple effect for surgeons who perform organ transplants has been significant, according to a study published Monday in the journal Archives of Surgery . Nearly a third of 422 practicing transplant surgeons surveyed by a Johns Hopkins research team in early 2008 changed the way they evaluate organs from "high risk" donors as a result of the 2007 incident, they reported.
