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

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplant recipients appear to be particularly high risk for critical COVID-19 illness owing to chronic immunosuppression and coexisting conditions. The aim of this study is to present the clinical characteristics and outcomes of our hospital's kidney transplant recipients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection. METHODS: In our retrospective observational study of COVID-19 PCR-positive patients, 31 of them were hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia and they were evaluated using demographics, laboratory data, treatment, and outcome. The prognostic nutritional index (PNI), which is calculated using the serum albumin concentration and total lymphocytic count, was also evaluated. The baseline immunosuppressive therapy of patients at the time of admission and the treatments they received during their hospitalization were recorded. All patients were treated with favipiravir. RESULTS: Of the 31 renal transplant patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, 20 were male and the mean age was 52.7 ± 13.4. Nine (29%) of the patients died. All patients were treated with favipiravir for 5 days; laboratory tests were recorded before and after treatment. The mean PNI of the patients who survived was higher than the patients who died. CONCLUSIONS: The 9 patients who died had lower PNI and higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), creatinine, l-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), ferritin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Hospitalized kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 have higher rates of mortality. The PNI exhibited good predictive performance and may be a useful clinical marker that can be used for estimating survival in COVID-19 patients.