Comparison of Short-Term Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients from SARS-CoV-2–Infected versus Noninfected Deceased Donors
Junji Yamauchi, Ambreen Azhar, Isaac E. Hall, Anshul Bhalla, Vishnu S. Potluri, Bekir Tanriover, Gaurav Gupta, Hannah Imlay, Crystal Truax, Vasanthi Balaraman, Divya Raghavan, Michael Zimmerman, Jeffrey Campsen, George Rofaiel, Talia Baker, Miklos Z. Molnar- Transplantation
- Nephrology
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
- Epidemiology
Background
Acceptable posttransplant outcomes were reported in kidney transplant recipients from donors with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), however, there are no comparative studies with well-matched controls.
Methods
This multicenter, prospective observational study, which included three transplant centers in the US, enrolled 61 kidney recipients from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected deceased donors. Using optimal matching methods, we matched every recipient to three comparators receiving kidneys from SARS-CoV-2-negative deceased donors with otherwise highly similar characteristics within the same transplant centers to compare 6-month eGFR.
Results
Among recipients of SARS-CoV-2-infected donor kidneys, one recipient died with a functional graft within 6 months. Mean 6-month eGFR was not significantly different between SARS-CoV-2-infected and non-infected donor groups (55±21 and 57±25 mL/min/1.73m2; p=0.61). Six-month eGFR in recipients from SARS-CoV-2-infected donors who died from reasons other than COVID-19 was not significantly different from those from SARS-CoV-2-negative donors (58±22 and 56±25 mL/min/1.73m2; p=0.51). However, recipients from donors who died from COVID-19 had significantly lower 6-month eGFR that those from SARS-CoV-2-negative donors (46±17 and 58±27 mL/min/1.73m2; p=0.03). No donor-to-recipient SARS-CoV-2 transmission was observed.
Conclusions
Six-month eGFR was not significantly different between recipients of kidneys from SARS-CoV-2-infected and non-infected donors. However, those receiving kidneys from donors who died from COVID-19 had significantly lower 6-month eGFR. Donor-to-recipient SARS-CoV-2 transmission was not observed.