ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We reviewed the clinical experience of kidney transplant recipients diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in order to understand the impact of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic infection on transplant recipients. Given that early reports from heavily affected areas demonstrated a very high mortality rate amongst kidney transplant recipients, ranging between 30% and 40%, we sought to evaluate outcomes at a center with a high burden of cases but not experiencing acute crisis due to COVID-19. PROCEDURES: In this single center retrospective observational study, medical records of all kidney transplant recipients at the UCLA Medical Center were reviewed for a diagnosis of COVID-19 by polymerase chain reaction, followed by chart review to determine kidney transplant characteristics and clinical course. MAIN FINDINGS: A total of 41 kidney transplant recipients were identified with COVID-19 positive polymerase chain reaction. Recipients had been transplanted for a median of 47 months before diagnosis. The large proportion of infected individuals were minorities (Hispanic 65.9%, black 14.6%), on prednisone, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil (95.1%, 87.8%, and 87.8%, respectively), and had excellent allograft function (median 1.25 mg/dL). The most common presenting symptoms were fever, dyspnea, or cough. Most patients were hospitalized (63.4%); mortality was 9.8% and occurred only in patients in the intensive care unit. The most common treatment was reduction or removal of antimetabolite (77.8%). Approximately 26.9% presented with AKI. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 infection in kidney transplant recipients results in a higher rate of hospitalization and mortality than in the general population. In an area with a high number of infections, the mortality rate was lower compared with earlier reports from areas experiencing early surge and strain on the medical system. Minorities were disproportionately affected. Future studies are needed to determine optimal approach to treatment and management of immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/immunology , Immunocompromised Host , Kidney Transplantation , Pneumonia, Viral/immunology , Transplant Recipients , Adult , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/mortality , Female , Humans , Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use , Kidney Transplantation/mortality , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/mortality , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The infectious disease coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on solid organ transplantations, including heart transplantation, is currently unclear. Many transplant programs have been forced to swiftly re-evaluate and adapt their practices, leading to a marked decrease in transplants performed. This trend has been due to various factors, including increased donor COVID-19 screening scrutiny and recipient waiting list management in anticipation of COVID-19 critical care surge capacity planning. In the face of these unknown variables, determining when and how to proceed with transplantation in our population of patients with end-stage cardiomyopathies is challenging. Here, we describe our center's experience with orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) in one of the country's pandemic epicenters, where we performed eight OHTs in the first 2 months after community spread began in late February 2020.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Heart Failure/surgery , Heart Transplantation , Postoperative Complications/prevention & control , Aged , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/etiology , COVID-19 Testing , Female , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Los Angeles/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Perioperative Care/methods , Postoperative Complications/diagnosis , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is rapidly infecting people worldwide, resulting in the infectious disease coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) that has been declared a pandemic. Much remains unknown about COVID-19, including its effects on solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Given their immunosuppressed state, SOT recipients are presumed to be at high risk of complications with viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2. Limited case reports in single SOT recipients, however, have not suggested a particularly severe course in this population. In this report, we present a dual-organ (heart/kidney) transplant recipient who was found to have COVID-19 and, despite the presence of a number of risk factors for poor outcomes, had a relatively mild clinical course.