SARS-CoV-2 Infection of Unvaccinated Liver- and Kidney-Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Experience of 103 Consecutive Cases

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Its reported impact on solid-organ-transplant-recipient morbidity and mortality has varied. The aim of this study was to present the effect of transplant status, patient comorbidities and immunosuppre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hailey Hardgrave, Allison Wells, Joseph Nigh, Tamara Osborn, Garrett Klutts, Derek Krinock, Mary Katherine Rude, Sushma Bhusal, Lyle Burdine, Emmanouil Giorgakis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-06-01
Series:Transplantology
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3943/3/2/21
Description
Summary:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Its reported impact on solid-organ-transplant-recipient morbidity and mortality has varied. The aim of this study was to present the effect of transplant status, patient comorbidities and immunosuppression modality on the survival of solid-organ-transplant recipients who contracted SAR-CoV-2 during the pre-vaccination era, at a single academic transplant center. Patients (n = 103) were assessed for 90-day mortality. A univariate analysis identified an age of over 60 years (HR = 10, <i>p</i> = 0.0034), Belatacept (HR = 6.1, <i>p</i> = 0.022), and Cyclosporine (HR = 6.1, <i>p</i> = 0.0089) as significant mortality risk factors; Tacrolimus was protective (HR = 0.23, <i>p</i> = 0.022). Common metabolic comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, obesity) did not stand out as risk factors in our patient cohort. This study on the unvaccinated is expected to facilitate a paired comparison of outcomes in transplanted patients who contracted SARS-CoV-2 during the latter period of the pandemic, when broad SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and novel antibody treatments became broadly available.
ISSN:2673-3943