TY - JOUR
TI - A systematic review of COVID-19 infection in kidney transplant recipients: A universal effort to preserve patients’ lives and allografts
AU - Marinaki, S.
AU - Tsiakas, S.
AU - Korogiannou, M.
AU - Grigorakos, K.
AU - Papalois, V.
AU - Boletis, I.
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine Research
PY - 2020
VL - 9
TODO - 9
SP - 1-18
PB - MDPI
SN - 1918-3003, 1918-3011
TODO - 10.3390/jcm9092986
TODO - corticosteroid;  cytokine receptor antagonist;  hydroxychloroquine;  immunoglobulin, acute kidney failure;  adult respiratory distress syndrome;  antibiotic therapy;  antiviral therapy;  comorbidity;  coronavirus disease 2019;  corticosteroid therapy;  deceased donor;  disease course;  disease severity;  graft recipient;  hospital discharge;  hospital mortality;  hospital patient;  hospitalization;  human;  immunosuppressive treatment;  infection rate;  intensive care unit;  kidney allograft;  kidney transplantation;  renal replacement therapy;  Review;  systematic review
TODO - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a significant challenge to physicians and healthcare systems worldwide. Evidence about kidney transplant (KTx) recipients is still limited. A systematic literature review was performed. We included 63 articles published from 1 January until 7 July 2020, reporting on 420 adult KTx recipients with confirmed COVID-19. The mean age of patients was 55 ± 15 years. There was a male predominance (67%). The majority (74%) were deceased donor recipients, and 23% were recently transplanted (<1 year). Most patients (88%) had at least one comorbidity, 29% had two, and 18% three. Ninety-three percent of cases were hospitalized. Among them, 30% were admitted to the intensive care unit, 45% developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 44% had acute kidney injury with 23% needing renal replacement therapy. From the hospitalized patients a total of 22% died, 59% were discharged, and 19% were still in hospital at the time of publication. Immunosuppression was reduced in 27%, discontinued in 31%, and remained unchanged in 5%. Hydroxychloroquine was administered to 78% of patients, antibiotics to 73%, and antivirals to 30% while 25% received corticosteroid boluses, 28% received anti-interleukin agents, and 8% were given immunoglobulin. The main finding of our analysis was that the incidence of COVID-19 among kidney transplant patients is not particularly high, but when they do get infected, this is related to significant morbidity and mortality. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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