Is COVID‐19 infection more severe in kidney transplant recipients?

International audience; There are no studies which have compared the risk of severe Covid-19 and related mortality between transplant recipients and non-transplant patients. We enrolled two groups of patients hospitalized for Covid-19, i.e., kidney transplant recipients from the French Registry of Solid Organ Transplant (n=306) and a single-center cohort of non-transplant patients (n=795). An analysis was performed among subgroups matched for age and risk factors for severe Covid-19 or mortality. Severe Covid-19 was defined as admission (or transfer) to an intensive care unit, need for mechanical ventilation, or death.Transplant recipients were younger and had more comorbidities compared to non-transplant patients. They presented with higher creatinine levels and developed more episodes of acute kidney injury. After matching, the 30-day cumulative incidence of severe Covid-19 did not differ between KTR and non-transplant patients; however, 30-day Covid-19-related mortality was significantly higher in KTR (17.9% versus 11.4%, respectively, p=0.038). Age >60 years, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, fever, lymphopenia, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were associated with severe Covid-19 in univariate analysis, whereas transplant status and serum creatinine levels were not. Age >60 years, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, CRP >60 mg/L, lymphopenia, kidney transplant status (HR=1.55), and creatinine level >115 µmol/L (HR=2.32) were associated with Covid-19-related mortality in univariate analysis. In multivariable analysis, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, and fever were associated with severe disease, whereas age >60 years, cardiovascular disease, dyspnea, fever, and creatinine level>115 µmol/L retained their independent associations with mortality. Kidney transplant recipients had a higher Covid-19-related mortality compared to non-transplant hospitalized patients.