Varied clinical presentation and outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in liver transplant recipients: Initial experience at a single center in Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Background: Which are the consequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in liver transplant (LT) recipients?. Methods: We attempted to address this question by reviewing our single-center experience during the first 2 months of the pandemics at a high incidence area. Results: Nineteen adult patients (5 females) were diagnosed by May 5, 2020. Median age was 58 (range 55-72), and median follow-up since transplantation was 83 (range 20-183) months. Cough (84.2%), fever (57.9%), and dyspnea (47.4%) were the most common symptoms. Thirteen patients (68.4%) had pneumonia in x-ray/CT scan. Hydroxychloroquine was administered in 11 patients, associated with lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon β in 2 cases each. Immunomodulatory therapy with tocilizumab was used in 2 patients. Immunosuppression (IS) was halted in one patient and modified in only other two due to potential drug interactions. Five (26.3%) patients were managed as outpatient. Two patients (10.5%) died, 10 (52.6%) were discharged home, and 2 (10.5%) were still hospitalized after a median follow-up of 41 days from the onset of symptoms. Baseline IS regimen remained unchanged in all surviving recipients, with good liver function. Conclusions: Our preliminary experience shows a broad spectrum of disease severity in LT patients with COVID-19, with a favorable outcome in most of them without needing to modify baseline IS.