Risk Factors of COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients
Nephrology-Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qata
Meeting: 2021 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 775
Keywords: Infection, Kidney transplantation, Risk factors
Topic: Clinical Science » Infectious Disease » Kidney Infectious Non-Polyoma & Non-Viral Hepatitis
Session Information
Session Name: Kidney Infectious Non-Polyoma & Non-Viral Hepatitis
Session Type: Poster Abstract
Session Date & Time: None. Available on demand.
Location: Virtual
*Purpose: Kidney transplant recipients have been shown to develop a severe form of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that poses a significant mortality risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors associated with acquiring COVID-19 in our kidney transplant population.
*Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all kidney transplant recipients in our national transplant registry. There were 249 out of 693 kidney transplant recipients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 infection testing by August 1st, 2020. All testing was done by government using RT-PCR of throat and nasal swabs. Forty-three of the tested patients had positive COVID-19 (17%), while the remaining 206 were negative. Mann-Whitney and Fisher’s exact tests were used to study the different continuous and categorical variables, respectively.
*Results: Among patients tested for COVID-19, Asian ethnicity (37% vs. 16%, P=0.003), history of hypertensive nephropathy (23% vs. 9%, P=0.01) and deep vein thrombosis (12% vs.1%, P=0.002) were statistically significant in COVID-19 positive group compared to COVID-19 negative group. Tacrolimus trough level at the time of COVID-19 testing was also significantly higher in COVID-19 positive patients (7.7 ng/mL vs. 6.6 ng/mL, P=0.03). Recipient age, gender, year of transplant, donor type, maintenance immunosuppression, flu vaccine within 1 year and use of ACE inhibitors or ARBs were all similar in both groups. Most patients with positive COVID-19 were symptomatic at the time of testing compared to negative patients (84% vs. 18%, P=0.0001). However, close contact with positive COVID-19 people was similar in both groups (14% vs. 14%, P=1).
*Conclusions: Prevention and reduction of COVID-19 infection development is crucial in kidney transplant recipients to avoid unfavorable outcomes. With the widespread of COVID-19 worldwide, avoiding exposure might not be possible. Our results suggest that targeting lower tacrolimus trough levels may reduce the risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Alkadi MM, Abuhelaiqa E, Asim M, Fituri O, Elidrisi R, Rahiman RAbdul, Elshirbeny M, Othman M, Hamad A, Ashour A, Hamdi A, Nauman A, Tohid H, Jarman M, Al-Malki H. Risk Factors of COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Recipients [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2021; 21 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/risk-factors-of-covid-19-in-kidney-transplant-recipients/. Accessed November 21, 2024.« Back to 2021 American Transplant Congress