Outcomes of Living Donor Kidney Transplant After SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Both the Donor and the Recipient: A Multicenter Study.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence on living donor kidney transplant procedures when both the donor and recipient have had a history of COVID-19 infection is scarce. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively explored the protocol, outcomes, and follow-up of 64 donors and recipients of living donor kidney transplant who had recovered from COVID-19. This was a multicenter (n = 12) study from India that included transplants between October 29, 2020, and December 1, 2021. Induction and immunosuppression regimens forthose with different severities of COVID-19 were similar to standard practice. RESULTS: COVID-19 clinical severity ranged from asymptomatic/mild (not requiring oxygen therapy) in 49 recipients (77%) and 63 donors (95.4%) and moderate/severe (requiring oxygen therapy) in 15 recipients (23%) and 1 donor (4.6%). Mean wait time±SEM (SD)from firstdocumentednegative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testto surgery for recipients and donors was 90.9 ± 9.27 (74.1) and 47 ± 4.5 (29.2) days, respectively. Six episodes (9.3%) of biopsy-proven acute rejection were reported at follow-up of 214 ± 14.8 (119) days and median of 227 (interquartile range, 109-309) days. The locally weighted scatter plot smoothing curve for creatinine during follow-up in donor-recipients pairs showed no trends of increased creatinine in the context of wait time from COVID-19 to transplant surgery. No graft loss, death, reactivation/reinfection, and complications related to surgery or COVID-19 were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Our report showed excellent outcomes and follow-up data of living donor kidney transplant in recovered donor-recipient pairs with the standard immunosuppression protocol. To our knowledge, this is the first and the largest study of donor-recipient living donor kidney transplant pairs when both donors and recipients had prior COVID-19.

Effect of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Transplantation and Nephrology in India: A Nationwide Report From India.

BACKGROUND: The effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on a developing nation is sparsely reported and, more importantly, the discrepancies in public and private sectors are underexplored. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the data on the effect of COVID-19 on renal transplantation between 2019 and 2020 in a nationwide analysis from 8 public and 10 private sector hospitals of India. RESULTS: On comparing the yearly data, the number of living-related transplants and deceased donor transplants declined by 48% (2610 vs 1370) and 49% (194 vs 99), respectively. The outpatient numbers and in-center admissions decreased by 40.4% (616,741 vs 367,962) and 30.8 % (73,190 vs 49,918). respectively. There was no increase in the number of renal or graft biopsies in the COVID-19 era. The number of waitlisted patients on hemodialysis was higher in public (304,898 vs 338,343) when compared with private (163,096 vs 150,292) in the last 2 years. Similarly, the number of waitlisted patients on peritoneal dialysis (4655 vs 3526) was higher in the public sector compared with private sector (932 vs 745). The decline in living transplants during the pandemic was higher in public sectors (58%) compared with the private (49%). However, the decline in deceased donation was higher in private (57.9%) relative to public (50.6%). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 has adversely affected the transplantation activities across the Indian transplantation centers, with a disproportionately higher impact on waitlisted patients in public sector programs. A sound prioritization of health care resources is mandated to safeguard the most deprived and high-risk waitlisted patients during the pandemic.

Is Early COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients Concerning Enough to Halt Transplantation? A Multicenter Comparative Analysis from India.

BACKGROUND: Limited data exist on the incidence and outcome of early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in kidney transplantation recipients (KTR). METHODS: A retrospective multicenter research study was conducted across 12 centers in India. We explored the symptomatology, demographic, laboratory findings, and outcome of COVID-19 within 30 days of transplantation. The outcome was compared with the overall KTR and waitlisted patients acquiring COVID-19. RESULTS: The incidence of early COVID-19 was 2.6% (n = 22) for the cumulative 838 renal transplants performed since nationwide lockdown in March 2020 until May 2021. Overall, 1049 KTR were diagnosed with COVID-19 and 2% of those had early COVID-19. The median age of the early COVID-19 cohort was 43 (31-46) years. COVID-19 severity ranged from asymptomatic (18.2%), mild (59.1%), moderate (9.1%), and severe (13.6%). Among clinical symptoms, dyspnea and anosmia were frequent, and in laboratory parameters, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and D-dimer were higher in patients requiring oxygen. The mortality in early COVID-19 was not higher than overall KTR (4.5% vs 8.5%; P = 1). COVID-19 severity (23.9% vs 15.7%; P = .0001) and mortality (15.5% vs 8.5%; P = .001) among waitlisted patients (n = 1703) were higher compared with overall KTR. CONCLUSIONS: We report higher burden of COVID-19 in waitlisted patients compared with KTR and a favorable outcome in early COVID-19 in KTR. Our report will help the transplant physicians in dealing with the ongoing dilemma of halting or resuming transplantation in the COVID-19 era.