Assessment of clinical outcomes in renal transplant recipients with COVID‐19

Yilmaz, Gulay; Ebru, Ozdemir; Ibrahim, Berber; Ulkem, Cakir

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has affected more than a hundred million individuals and caused more than three million deaths worldwide. Specific risk groups were defined for increased risk of mortality and morbidity in COVID‐19, and renal transplant recipients are at a significantly increased risk regarding outcomes due to their immunosuppressed conditions. This study evaluated the general characteristics of kidney transplant recipients with COVID‐19 infection. Among 1257 transplant cases, 56 had COVID‐19 infection, and 23 (41%) were hospitalized during the 9‐month study period. Among all COVID‐19 cases, 58% were male with a mean age of 45.5 (±13.2, 19–71) years, and the most frequent comorbidities were hypertension (70.9%) and diabetes (23.6%). Hospitalized patients were older (p = 0.03) and had higher rates of hypertension (p = 0.008), diabetes (p = 0.002), and ischemic heart disease (p = 0.03). Therapeutic management included antimetabolite withdrawal and prednisolone increase in 71%, calcineurin inhibitor withdrawal in 8% and decrease in 58%, hydroxychloroquine in 17%, tocilizumab in 3%, and antivirals in 67% of patients. Acute kidney injury and respiratory failure developed in 34% and 85%, respectively. The mortality rate was 23%. These results emphasized that the COVID‐19 infection in renal transplant recipients significantly increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, these patients should be intervened earlier and monitored closely to prevent poor outcomes.