Outcomes of Novel Coronavirus 2019 in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: Yet Again, Race Matters

Background: The Coronavirus 2019 pandemic has posed a particular challenge for transplant programs across the world as little was understood regarding how the virus would affect immunocompromised hosts. In addition it was unclear if race and socioeconomic status affected hospitalization rates. Methods: We describe a cohort of 25 solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) within a single-center who were subsequently hospitalized for COVID-19 infection. In addition, we compared baseline characteristics of our cohort with all of our transplants from 1/2/2015 until 11/5/2020. Results: Transplant recipients infected with COVID-19 have many comorbidities (96% with hypertension, 60% with heart failure or ischemic heart disease, and 60% with diabetes). Overall SOTR patients frequently presented with AKI (44%), frequently required ICU stay (52%), and frequently required intubation (36%). We discovered a statistically significant racial disparity in COVID-19 infection in minorities within our cohort compared to our baseline transplant recipient population. Conclusion: Transplant recipients tended to have more atypical symptoms such as diarrhea and tolerated a stepwise reduction of immunosuppression. Solid organ transplant recipients - particularly minorities and low income patients-may benefit from additional COVID-19 precautions such as earlier access to vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Trends in Transplantation is the property of Publicidad Permanyer SLU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)