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COVID‐19 clinical manifestations and treatment strategies among solid‐organ recipients: A systematic review of cases
Author(s) -
Moosavi Seyed Ali,
Mashhadiagha Amirali,
Motazedian Nasrin,
Hashemazar Alireza,
Hoveidaei Amir Human,
Bolignano Davide
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/tid.13427
Subject(s) - medicine , calcineurin , tacrolimus , lymphocytopenia , gastroenterology , transplantation , dialysis , creatinine , kidney transplantation , liver transplantation , surgery , lymphocyte
Background COVID‐19 has been spreading worldwide with a significant death toll. Solid‐organ transplantation (SOT) recipients are at higher risk due to their suppressed immune system. In this study, we aimed to conduct a systematic review on COVID‐19 clinical manifestations and treatment strategies in SOT recipients. Methods We searched three databases for relevant terms related to COVID‐19 and transplantation. 50 studies, including 337 patients, were reviewed. Results Two hundred thirty six patients were male, with a mean age of 49.9 years. The most prevalent group was the kidney 57.0%, followed by 17.2% heart and 13.6% liver. Fever and cough were the most reported clinical presentations. Infiltration (55.4%) in chest x‐ray and ground‐glass opacity (67.1%) in CT scans were the most radiological findings. It was found that 96.8% and 72.4% of patients present with CRP level and lymphocytopenia, respectively, and 70.6% of kidney recipients patients presented with high creatinine levels. The most common baseline immunosuppressants were calcineurin inhibitors (88.9%) and antimetabolites (73.2%). Antimetabolites (84.3%) and calcineurin inhibitors (54.3%) were discontinued/decreased 84.3% whereas glucocorticoids dosage almost has no change (77.9%) or even increased. 18.4% of cases had died, and 65.9% were discharged. Conclusions Patients' demographics, signs, symptoms, and radiographic findings in SOT recipients are almost similar to the general population. However, gastrointestinal symptoms appear to be more common. There are different treatment strategies, but in most of them, antimetabolite and calcineurin inhibitors were decreased or discontinued, while corticosteroids were increased. Finally, COVID‐19 seems to be more severe and has higher mortality in SOT recipients compared to the general population.