TRANSITORY HIV ANTIBODY-POSITIVE STATE FOLLOWING REPEATED ADMINISTRATION OF A CMV-IMMUNOGLOBULIN PREPARATION AFTER HEART-TRANSPLANTATION

After repeated administration of relatively high doses of a cytomegalovirus immunoglobulin preparation to two patients after heart transplantation, both the ELISA and the immuno-blot tests became temporarily positive (for 21 and 41 days, respectively) to HIV antibodies. The CMV immunoglobulin preparation was demonstrated to have high HIV antibody titres. The latter ran parallel to antibody titres against measles virus, also transferred passively with the immunoglobulin preparation. This makes it unlikely that HIV antibodies had been formed by active immunization from HIV in the immunoglobulin preparation. Within 126 and 176 days, respectively, after the last positive test against HIV antibodies there was no further demonstration of HIV antibodies or of a corresponding illness. There was thus no evidence of an HIV infection having been transmitted by the immunoglobulin preparation.