Abstract
Background
Following the short-term outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in December 2022 in China, clinical data on kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with COVID-19 are lacking.
Methods
We conducted a single-center retrospective study to describe the clinical features, complications, and mortality rates of hospitalized KTRs infected with COVID-19 between Dec. 16, 2022 and Jan. 31, 2023. The patients were followed up until Mar. 31, 2023.
Results
A total of 324 KTRs with COVID-19 were included. The median age was 49 years. The median time between the onset of symptoms and admission was 13 d. Molnupiravir, azvudine, and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir were administered to 67 (20.7%), 11 (3.4%), and 148 (45.7%) patients, respectively. Twenty-nine (9.0%) patients were treated with more than one antiviral agent. Forty-eight (14.8%) patients were treated with tocilizumab and 53 (16.4%) patients received baricitinib therapy. The acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in 81 (25.0%) patients and 39 (12.0%) patients were admitted to intensive care units. Fungal infections were observed in 55 (17.0%) patients. Fifty (15.4%) patients lost their graft. The 28-d mortality rate of patients was 9.0% and 42 (13.0%) patients died by the end of follow-up. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified that cerebrovascular disease, AKI incidence, interleukin (IL)-6 level of >6.8 pg/mL, daily dose of corticosteroids of >50 mg, and fungal infection were all associated with an increased risk of death for hospitalized patients.
Conclusions
Our findings demonstrate that hospitalized KTRs with COVID-19 are at high risk of mortality. The administration of immunomodulators or the late application of antiviral drugs does not improve patient survival, while higher doses of corticosteroids may increase the death risk.
摘要
2022 年 12 月 2019 冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 在**出现短期的暴发流行, 大量肾移植受者在感染 COVID-19 后需住院治疗. 本研究回顾分析了在 2022 年 12 月 16 日至 2023 年 1 月 31 日期间感染 COVID-19 并在浙江大学医学院附属第一医院住院治疗的肾移植受者的临床特征和预后, 随访截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日. 本研究共纳入 324 名患者, 其中位年龄为 49 岁, 从出现症状到入院的中位时间为 13 天. 分别有 67 例 (20.7%)、 11 例 (3.4%) 和 148 例 (45.7%) 患者接受了莫那匹韦、 阿兹夫定和奈玛特韦/利托那韦治疗, 29 例 (9.0%) 患者接受了多种抗病毒药物治疗, 48 例 (14.8%) 接受了托珠单抗治疗, 53 例 (16.4%) 接受了巴瑞替尼治疗. 其中, 81 例 (25.0%) 发生急性肾损伤 (AKI), 39 例 (12.0%) 转入 ICU 治疗, 55 例 (17.0%) 发生真菌感染, 50 例 (15.4%) 最终发生移植肾失功. 患者的 28 天死亡率为 9.0%, 截至随访终点时共有 42 例 (13.0%) 患者死亡. 多因素 Cox 回归分析显示合并脑血管疾病、 AKI 出现、 白介素-6 (IL-6) 水**大于 6.8 pg/mL、 每日**均糖皮质激素剂量大于 50 mg 以及真菌感染等因素与住院患者死亡风险增加相关. 结果表明, 感染 COVID-19 后需住院治疗的肾移植受者死亡率很高. 此外, 服用免疫调节剂或过迟应用抗病毒药物, 并不能提高患者生存率, 而且大剂量的糖皮质激素使用则会增加死亡风险.
Data availability statement
The data used or analyzed during this study can be available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ahmad FB, Cisewski JA, Xu JQ, et al., 2023. COVID-19 mortality update–United States, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 72(18):493–496. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7218a4
Avery RK, 2022. Update on COVID-19 therapeutics for solid organ transplant recipients, including the omicron surge. Transplantation, 106(8):1528–1537. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004200
Azzi Y, Bartash R, Scalea J, et al., 2021. COVID-19 and solid organ transplantation: a review article. Transplantation, 105(1):37–55. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000003523
Berger B, Hazzan M, Kamar N, et al., 2022. Absence of mortality differences between the first and second COVID-19 waves in kidney transplant recipients. Kidney Int Rep, 7(12):2617–2629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2022.09.007
Bernal E, Gimeno L, Alcaraz MJ, et al., 2021. Activating killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors are associated with the severity of coronavirus disease 2019. J Infect Dis, 224(2): 229–240. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiab228
Caillard S, Anglicheau D, Matignon M, et al., 2020. An initial report from the French SOT COVID Registry suggests high mortality due to COVID-19 in recipients of kidney transplants. Kidney Int, 98(6):1549–1558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2020.08.005
Chan L, Chaudhary K, Saha A, et al., 2021. AKI in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. J Am Soc Nephrol, 32(1): 151–160. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2020050615
Chaudhuri D, Sasaki K, Karkar A, et al., 2021. Corticosteroids in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ARDS: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Intensive Care Med, 47(5):521–537. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-021-06394-2
COVID-19 Excess Mortality Collaborators, 2022. Estimating excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic analysis of COVID-19-related mortality, 2020–21. Lancet, 399(10334):1513–1536. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02796-3
Daniel E, Sekulic M, Kudose S, et al., 2021. Kidney allograft biopsy findings after COVID-19. Am J Transplant, 21(12): 4032–4042. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16804
Daoud A, Alqassieh A, Alkhader D, et al., 2021. Immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection–where do we stand and where are we heading? Ren Fail, 43(1):273–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886022X.2021.1876730
Fang XY, Li S, Yu H, et al., 2020. Epidemiological, comorbidity factors with severity and prognosis of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Aging, 12(13):12493–12503. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103579
Farkash EA, Wilson AM, Jentzen JM, 2020. Ultrastructural evidence for direct renal infection with SARS-CoV-2. J Am Soc Nephrol, 31(8):1683–1687. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2020040432
Favà A, Cucchiari D, Montero N, et al., 2020. Clinical characteristics and risk factors for severe COVID-19 in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients: a multicentric cohort study. Am J Transplant, 20(11):3030–3041. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16246
Gangneux JP, Dannaoui E, Fekkar A, et al., 2022. Fungal infections in mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 during the first wave: the French multicentre MYCOVID study. Lancet Respir Med, 10(2):180–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00442-2
Gérard AO, Barbosa S, Anglicheau D, et al., 2022. Association between maintenance immunosuppressive regimens and COVID-19 mortality in kidney transplant recipients. Transplantation, 106(10):2063–2067. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004254
Gupta S, Wang W, Hayek SS, et al., 2021. Association between early treatment with tocilizumab and mortality among critically ill patients with COVID-19. JAMA Intern Med, 181(1):41–51. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.6252
Hajibaratali B, Amini H, Dalili N, et al., 2023. Clinical outcomes of kidney recipients with COVID-19 (COVID-19 in kidney recipients). Transpl Immunol, 76:101772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trim.2022.101772
Hartzell S, Bin S, Benedetti C, et al., 2020. Evidence of potent humoral immune activity in COVID-19-infected kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant, 20(11):3149–3161. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16261
Jimeno S, Ventura PS, Castellano JM, et al., 2021. Prognostic implications of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in COVID-19. Eur J Clin Invest, 51(1):e13404. https://doi.org/10.1111/eci.13404
Klopfenstein T, Gendrin V, Kadiane-Oussou NJ, et al., 2022. Tocilizumab in COVID-19 pneumonia: practical proposals based on a narrative review of randomised trials. Rev Med Virol, 32(1):e2239. https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.2239
Kremer D, Pieters TT, Verhaar MC, et al., 2021. A systematic review and meta-analysis of COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients: lessons to be learned. Am J Transplant, 21(12):3936–3945. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16742
Kronbichler A, Gauckler P, Windpessl M, et al., 2020. COVID-19: implications for immunosuppression in kidney disease and transplantation. Nat Rev Nephrol, 16(7):365–367. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-020-0305-6
Mahalingasivam V, Su GB, Iwagami M, et al., 2022. COVID-19 and kidney disease: insights from epidemiology to inform clinical practice. Nat Rev Nephrol, 18(8):485–498. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-022-00570-3
Mallhi TH, Khan YH, Alzarea AI, et al., 2022. Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of acute kidney injury among COVID-19 patients: a systematic review of systematic reviews. Front Med (Lausanne), 9:973030. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.973030
Masset C, Gautier-Vargas G, Cantarovich D, et al., 2022. Occurrence of de novo donor-specific antibodies after COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients is low despite immunosuppression modulation. Kidney Int Rep, 7(5):983–992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ekir.2022.01.1072
Mendoza MA, Ranganath N, Chesdachai S, et al., 2023. Immunomodulators for severe coronavirus disease-2019 in transplant patients: do they increase the risk of secondary infection? Transpl Infect Dis, 25(2):e14050. https://doi.org/10.1111/tid.14050
Nab L, Parker EPK, Andrews CD, et al., 2023. Changes in COVID-19-related mortality across key demographic and clinical subgroups in England from 2020 to 2022: a retrospective cohort study using the OpenSAFELY platform. Lancet Public Health, 8(5):e364–e377. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(23)00079-8
Nadim MK, Forni LG, Mehta RL, et al., 2020. COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury: consensus report of the 25th Acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) Workgroup. Nat Rev Nephrol, 16(12):747–764. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-020-00356-5
National Institutes of Health (US), 2021. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines [Internet]. National Institutes of Health (US), Bethesda, USA. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34003615
Ng JH, Hirsch JS, Hazzan A, et al., 2021. Outcomes among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and acute kidney injury. Am J Kidney Dis, 77(2):204–215.e1. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2020.09.002
Nimmo A, Gardiner D, Ushiro-Lumb I, et al., 2022. The global impact of COVID-19 on solid organ transplantation: two years into a pandemic. Transplantation, 106(7):1312–1329. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004151
Pereira MR, Aversa MM, Farr MA, et al., 2020. Tocilizumab for severe COVID-19 in solid organ transplant recipients: a matched cohort study. Am J Transplant, 20(11):3198–3205. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16314
Pérez-Sáez MJ, Blasco M, Redondo-Pachón D, et al., 2020. Use of tocilizumab in kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19. Am J Transplant, 20(11):3182–3190. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16192
RECOVERY Collaborative Group, 2021. Tocilizumab in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Lancet, 397(10285):1637–1645. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00676-0
RECOVERY Collaborative Group, 2022. Baricitinib in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial and updated meta-analysis. Lancet, 400:359–368. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01109-6
RECOVERY Collaborative Group, 2023. Higher dose corticosteroids in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 who are hypoxic but not requiring ventilatory support (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial. Lancet, 401(10387):1499–1507. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00510-X
Richier Q, Jachiet V, Bonnemains V, et al., 2022. Tocilizumab and COVID-19: timing of administration assessment. Infect Dis Now, 52(1):31–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idnow.2021.06.304
Ronco C, Reis T, Husain-Syed F, 2020. Management of acute kidney injury in patients with COVID-19. Lancet Respir Med, 8(7):738–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30229-0
Saravolatz LD, Depcinski S, Sharma M, 2023. Molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir-ritonavir: oral coronavirus disease 2019 antiviral drugs. Clin Infect Dis, 76(1):165–171. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciac180
Singh AK, Oks M, Husk G, et al., 2021. Impact of timing of tocilizumab use in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Respir Care, 66(12):1805–1814. https://doi.org/10.4187/respcare.08779
Su H, Yang M, Wan C, et al., 2020. Renal histopathological analysis of 26 postmortem findings of patients with COVID-19 in China. Kidney Int, 98(1):219–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2020.04.003
Talic S, Shah S, Wild H, et al., 2021. Effectiveness of public health measures in reducing the incidence of covid-19, SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and covid-19 mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 375:e068302. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-068302
Tan BWL, Tan BWQ, Tan ALM, et al., 2023. Long-term kidney function recovery and mortality after COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury: an international multi-centre observational cohort study. eClinicalMedicine, 55:101724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101724
Tatum D, Taghavi S, Houghton A, et al., 2020. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and outcomes in Louisiana COVID-19 patients. Shock, 54(5):652–658. https://doi.org/10.1097/SHK.0000000000001585
Tu JY, Mo XQ, Zhang XD, et al., 2022. Effects of different corticosteroid therapy on severe COVID-19 patients: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Expert Rev Respir Med, 16(1):79–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/17476348.2021.1983429
van Grootveld R, van der Beek MT, Janssen NAF, et al., 2023. Incidence, risk factors and pre-emptive screening for COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis in an era of immunomodulant therapy. J Crit Care, 76:154272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2023.154272
Wagner C, Griesel M, Mikolajewska A, et al., 2021. Systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of COVID-19. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 8(8):CD014963. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD014963
Wang AX, Koff A, Hao DN, et al., 2022. Effect of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir on calcineurin inhibitor levels: early experience in four SARS-CoV-2 infected kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant, 22(8):2117–2119. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajt.16997
Weiss A, Hendrickx R, Stensgaard E, et al., 2023. Kidney transplant and dialysis patients remain at increased risk for succumbing to COVID-19. Transplantation, 107(5): 1136–1138. https://doi.org/10.1097/TP.0000000000004462
Willicombe M, Thomas D, McAdoo S, 2020. COVID-19 and calcineurin inhibitors: should they get left out in the storm? J Am Soc Nephrol, 31(6):1145–1146. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2020030348
Zhang WJ, Han F, Wu XF, et al., 2022. COVID-19 in the immunocompromised population: data from renal allograft recipients throughout full cycle of the outbreak in Hubei province, China. Chin Med J, 135(2):228–230. https://doi.org/10.1097/CM9.0000000000001538
Zhou ZF, Kuang H, Ma YX, et al., 2021. Application of extra-corporeal therapies in critically ill COVID-19 patients. J Zhejiang Univ-Sci B (Biomed & Biotechnol), 22(9):701–717. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2100344
Zhu L, Gong NQ, Liu B, et al., 2020. Coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia in immunosuppressed renal transplant recipients: a summary of 10 confirmed cases in Wuhan, China. Eur Urol, 77(6):748–754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2020.03.039
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2022YFC82200842) and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. LQ22H050004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Research idea and study design: Duo LV, Jianyong WU, and Jianghua CHEN; Data acquisition: Duo LV, **shao XIE, Qinyun YANG, Zhimin CHEN, Guangjun LIU, Rending WANG, Wenhan PENG, and Hongfeng HUANG; Data analysis/interpretation and statistical analysis: Duo LV and **shao XIE; Supervision or mentorship: Jianyong WU and Jianghua CHEN. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript, and therefore, have full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity and security of the data.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Duo LV, **shao XIE, Qinyun YANG, Zhimin CHEN, Guangjun LIU, Wenhan PENG, Rending WANG, Hongfeng HUANG, Jianghua CHEN, and Jianyong WU declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
This study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (expedition review No. 63 in 2023). The Ethics Committee authorized the informed consent waiver. This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Additional information
Supplementary information
Table S1
Supplementary information
11585_2024_751_MOESM1_ESM.pdf
Clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection in China during the Omicron wave: a single-center cohort study
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lv, D., **e, X., Yang, Q. et al. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of hospitalized kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 infection in China during the Omicron wave: a single-center cohort study. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. B 25, 529–540 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2300538
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B2300538