COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Experience

Objective: The body of literature regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in kidney transplant (KTx) recipients is growing every day, but is mostly comprised of case reports, small case series, and small cohorts. The aim of the current study was to describe our experiences with COVID-19-positive KTx recipients to reduce the difficulties that these patients face with COVID-19.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 54 KTx recipients diagnosed with COVID-19, between April 1, 2020, and February 1, 2021, from our Kidney Transplant Center. The participants were followed-up for a period of at least 30 days or until death.

Results: Of the 54 patients, 36 (66.66%) were followed-up as outpatients, and 18 (33.33%) were hospitalized, of which 13 (24.07%) were followed-up in the service, and 5 (9.26%) needed intensive care. All 5 patients (9.26%) in need of intensive care died and the remaining 49 (90.74%) recovered from COVID-19 infection. None of the patients developed graft loss during follow-up.

Conclusion: The results indicated that the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lactate dehydrogenase-to-lymphocyte ratio (LDH/lymphocyte) can be used to support the diagnosis and determine prognosis in KTx recipients with suspected COVID-19. In both the group comparisons and univariate logistic regression analyses, smoking was seen to be a significant risk factor for the development of pneumonia and mortality due to COVID-19. Therefore, all patients must be strongly reminded and encouraged to stop smoking.