COVID-19 Infection in Kidney Transplant Recipients From a Single Center in Iran

Objectives: COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly throughout the world, with nearly every country thus far documenting this infection. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the risk factors for increased mortality in deceased donor kidney transplant recipients with COVID-19 at a single center in Iran. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study in a single center. During the 17-month ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, there were 153 deceased donor kidney recipients at our center with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. Of these patients, 138 had positive COVID-19 tests, and thus a therapeutic regimen was commenced for these patients. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 software. Results: The patients were predominantly male (83, 60.1%) with a median age of 47.09 +/- 13.75 years and a median time since transplant of 51 months (IQR, 1-276 months). Among these patients, 84 (60.8%) had hypertension and 43 (31.2%) had diabetes mellitus. We observed a significant relationship between disease severity and mortality (P<.001). After risk adjustments for age, presence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension and blood group type were factors that showed a significantly higher risk of death. Conclusions: Deceased donor kidney transplant recipients with confirmed COVID-19 experienced less fever as an initial symptom. However, recipients with COVID-19 and an underlying disease had a higher rate of mortality, severity of infection, and progression of disease. Appropriate management of renal complications and vaccinations in deceased donor kidney transplant recipients may help lead to more favorable outcomes.