Management of COVID-19 in Liver Transplant Recipients With Immunosuppressant Therapy: Experiences of an Iranian Transplant Registry.

Sheikhalipour, Zahra; Kermani, Touraj Asvadi; Kakaei, Farzad; Farshbaf Khalili, Azizeh; Vahedi, Leila

OBJECTIVES With the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased COVID-19 risk shown in transplant recipients, the prevalence, clinical course, and outcomes of COVID-19 infections among liver transplant recipients were assessed. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire was designed and used to survey medical services for liver transplant recipients seen at our center in terms of COVID-19 infection. RESULTS Twenty-five patients infected with COVID-19 were identified from 265 liver transplant recipients. Most patients were male and had COVID-19 despite quarantine at home. All patients received modified immunosuppressive drugs during infection with COVID-19 with minor changes in routine immunosuppressive therapy. Among the identified patients, 21 recovered and 4 patients died. One of the dead patients, in addition to having a liver transplant, had brain cancer with metastasis to the lungs. CONCLUSIONS In liver transplant recipients infected with COVID-19, immunosuppressive drugs seemed to cause only mild to moderate illnesses or even helped them recover from the disease. However, more evidence is needed to prove this hypothesis. It is also recommended that transplant recipients should be warned about personal hygiene and be monitored closely by organ transplant centers.