Polyclonal anti T-lymphocyte antibody therapy monitoring in kidney transplant recipients: comparison of CD3+ T cell and total lymphocyte counts

By April 26, 2020, infections related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected people from 210 countries and caused 203,818 reported deaths worldwide. A few studies discussed the outcome of COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients. This short series demonstrates our experience in managing COVID-19 disease in renal transplant patients in the absence of strong evidence. We report 8 cases of kidney transplant recipients infected with COVID-19 (median age = 48.5 years; range = 21–71 years), including 4 males and 4 females. The most frequently associated comorbidity was hypertension. The most common presenting features were fever and cough. The main radiological investigation was a portable chest X-ray. Other common features included lymphopenia, high C-reactive protein, and a very high ferritin level. Overall, 1 patient was managed as an outpatient, the remaining 7 required hospital admission, 1 of them referred to the intensive therapy unit. Management included supportive treatment (intravenous fluid therapy, monitoring renal function, and symptomatic treatment with or without ward-based oxygen therapy depending on oxygen saturation) and discontinuation of the antiproliferative immunosuppressive drugs. Seven patients recovered and discharged home to self-isolate. One patient required intensive care treatment and mechanical ventilation. Supportive treatment could be sufficient for the management or to be tried first. We also found that short hospital stay with self-isolation on discharge reduces the burden on the health service and protect the staff and the public.

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Infection-Related Mortality in Recipients of a Kidney Transplant in Australia and New Zealand

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology ◽

10.2215/cjn.03200319 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (10) ◽

pp. 1484-1492 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Samuel Chan ◽

Elaine M. Pascoe ◽

Philip A. Clayton ◽

Stephen P. McDonald ◽

Wai H. Lim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

T Cell ◽

General Population ◽

Kidney Transplant ◽

Older Age ◽

Competing Risk ◽

Transplant Recipients ◽

Kidney Transplant Recipients ◽

Female Sex ◽

Related Mortality

Background and objectivesThe burden of infectious disease is high among kidney transplant recipients because of concomitant immunosuppression. In this study the incidence of infectious-related mortality and associated factors were evaluated.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsIn this registry-based retrospective, longitudinal cohort study, recipients of a first kidney transplant in Australia and New Zealand between 1997 and 2015 were included. Cumulative incidence of infectious-related mortality was estimated using competing risk regression (using noninfectious mortality as a competing risk event), and compared with age-matched, populated-based data using standardized incidence ratios.ResultsAmong 12,519 patients, (median age 46 years, 63% men, 15% diabetic, 6% Indigenous ethnicity), 2197 (18%) died, of whom 416 (19%) died from infection. The incidence of infection-related mortality during the study period (1997–2015) was 45.8 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 41.6 to 50.4) per 10,000 patient-years. The incidence of infection-related mortality reduced from 53.1 (95% CI, 45.0 to 62.5) per 10,000 person-years in 1997–2000 to 43.9 (95% CI, 32.5 to 59.1) per 10,000 person-years in 2011–2015 (P<0.001) Compared with the age-matched general population, kidney transplant recipients had a markedly higher risk of infectious-related death (standardized incidence ratio, 7.8; 95% CI, 7.1 to 8.6). Infectious mortality was associated with older age (≥60 years adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 4.16; 95% CI, 2.15 to 8.05; reference 20–30 years), female sex (SHR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.19 to 2.29), Indigenous ethnicity (SHR, 2.87; 95% CI, 1.84 to 4.46; reference white), earlier transplant era (2011–2015: SHR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.76; reference 1997–2000), and use of T cell–depleting therapy (SHR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.36 to 4.33). Live donor transplantation was associated with lower risk of infection-related mortality (SHR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.76).ConclusionsInfection-related mortality in kidney transplant recipients is significantly higher than the general population, but has reduced over time. Risk factors include older age, female sex, Indigenous ethnicity, T cell–depleting therapy, and deceased donor transplantation.PodcastThis article contains a podcast at https://www.asn-online.org/media/podcast/CJASN/2019_08_27_CJN03200319.mp3

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