In-hospital clinical outcomes in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus 19 disease (COVID-19) increased mortality in organ solid transplant patients due to chronic immunosuppression and significant comorbidity burden. We aim to evaluate patient and graft survival in kidney transplant (KT) recipients who were hospitalized or treated in Intensive Care Units (ICU) after contracting COVID-19. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on adult KT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19 between June 1 and July 31, 2021. The study reported demographics, symptoms, laboratory parameters, and clinical outcomes 30 days after a positive test. Risk factors for mortality were identified through comparisons between hospitalization-in-wards and ICU groups. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate graft and patient survival. Results: 55 KT patients were analysed, recipient age and history of diabetes showed significant differences between groups (p = 0.0124 and p = 0.0506, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that diabetes (p = 0.002) and dialysis requirement (p = 0.0006) were significantly associated with mortality risk. The overall mortality rate was 25.5%, with graft loss at 12.7%. Patient survival after 30 days was 74.5%, with significantly higher survival in the hospitalization-in-wards group (p = 0.0001) compared to the ICU group. Conclusions: KT patients diagnosed with COVID-19 are at higher mortality risk than the general population. Our study found that patients in the ICU group experienced worse clinical outcomes and higher mortality rates compared to those in the hospitalization-in-wards group. These findings underscore the importance of closely monitoring COVID-19-implicated KT patients and tailoring treatment plans to minimize risk and improve outcomes.