Abstract: PO0119
COVID-19 Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Case Series of 10 Cases from Dominican Republic
Session Information
- COVID-19: Health Systems and More
November 04, 2021 | Location: On-Demand, Virtual Only
Abstract Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Category: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- 000 Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Authors
- Atizol Rodriguez, Denazir, Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Santiago De Los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Bencosme, Nathalí E., Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Santiago De Los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Gutierrez, Anthony Jose, Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Santiago De Los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Garcia Delgado, Annette Giselle, Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Santiago De Los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic
- Dina-Batlle, Eliana, Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago, Santiago de los caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic
Introduction
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused tremendous impact globally due to the significant morbidity and mortality caused by this virus. It is currently known that the probability of becoming seriously ill from this disease is higher in older adults, in people with pre-existing comorbidities, and those with a suppressed immune state. Therefore, transplant patients are not the exception. Considering the importance of this topic and the scarce information on the outcome of this type of patient, especially in Latin America, this series of cases is focused on our experience with 10 kidney transplant patients hospitalized for COVID-19.
Case Description
<div style="text-align: left;">The age range of the patients was 41 to 68 years, where 8 of these were men. The most common admission symptoms were fever (80%), dyspnea (70%), myalgia/arthralgia (50%), and headache (50%). The most prevalent laboratory findings were lymphocytopenia and increased inflammatory markers such as D-dimer, LDH, procalcitonin, erythrocyte sedimentation, and ferritin. General management included supportive treatment, statins, and antithrombotic therapy, while the specific treatment options were hydroxychloroquine, antivirals, corticosteroids, intravenous ig, tofacitinib, and convalescent plasma. All the patients improved and were discharged. Two of them went to the ICU and only one required mechanical ventilation. The majority of the patients (70%) remained with their baseline immunosuppression without dose reduction or suspension.</div>
Discussion
kidney transplant recipients are more susceptible to infections, along with increased disease severity. At the same time their immunosuppressed state may reduce the inflammatory response following this type of infection. Decisions were based on stopping or attenuating the viral load and the systemic inflammation caused by this virus, but at the same time protecting against acute allograft rejection and the coinfection with other pathogens. Our findings suggest that the use of statins and antithrombotic prophylaxis in all hospitalized transplant patients may be beneficial to reduce the risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19 infection. Also, the maintenance of immunosuppressive therapy was not associated with worse outcomes.