Outcomes of COVID-19 in Solid Organ Transplants

Ranabothu, Saritha; Kanduri, Swetha Rani; Nalleballe, Krishna; Cheungpasitporn, Wisit; Onteddu, Sanjeeva; Kovvuru, Karthik

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic affecting millions of people worldwide. Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are probably at higher risk of severe infection and associated complications from COVID-19. Data on clinical outcomes of COVID-19 infection in SOT recipients are limited. Using the TriNetX database, patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from January 20, 2020, to July 7, 2020, were included in the study. We compared clinical outcomes comprising hospitalization, need for critical care services, intubation, and mortality among SOT recipients and patients without SOT. Of 30,573 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients, 288 had SOT. Patients with SOT were more likely to be hospitalized (37.2% vs. 12.2%; p < 0.0001), needed critical care services (6.9% vs. 2.3%; p < 0.0001), needed intubation (7.9% vs. 2.0%; p < 0.0001), and had a higher 30-day mortality (11.1% vs. 3.8%; p < 0.0001). Patients in the transplant group were older (55.4 vs. 47.6 years; p < 0.0001) and had a higher prevalence of medical co-morbidities. SOT recipients are at significant risk of adverse COVID-19 related outcomes, including hospitalization, need for critical care services, and 30-day mortality, likely due to multiple co-morbid conditions.