Incidence, Characteristics, and Outcome of COVID-۱۹ in Patient on Liver Transplant Program: A Retrospective Study in North of Iran

Background and Aim : The risk of severe COVID-۱۹ disease seems to be higher in individuals with solid organ transplantation. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to describe the laboratory data and epidemiologic factors of liver transplant recipients with diagnosed COVID in comparison with the patients waiting for liver transplantation.Methods : In this study, we evaluated the records of patients on the waiting list for liver transplantation and recipients of a liver transplant. Demographic data, underlying disease, history of drug use, and participants’ outcomes were collected. The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-۲ infection for all patients was confirmed using a nasopharyngeal swab specimen with real-time RT-PCR. During the study period, ۱۷۲ patients were enrolled, among whom ۸۵ patients (۴۹.۴%) were on the waiting list for liver transplantation and ۸۷ patients (۵۰.۶%) were recipients of a liver transplant.Results : Out of them, ۱۰ (۵.۸%) had a positive result for SARS-CoV-۲. Of these patients, ۶.۹% (۶/۸۷) and ۴.۷% (۴/۸۵) of patients on the waiting list and recipients of liver transplant were positive for SARS-CoV-۲, respectively. Patients on the waiting list with COVID-۱۹ infection had a higher median of albumin, ALT, AST, TBIL, DBIL, HDL, and LDL values compared to recipients of a liver transplant. In summary, the incidence of COVID-۱۹ in liver transplant patients was slightly high. Conclusion : The existence of underlying liver diseases should be well known as one of the poor predictive factors for worse outcomes in patients with COVID-۱۹. So, comparative studies are recommended to identify risk factors for COVID-۱۹ in patients with liver injury.

کلیدواژه ها:

SARS-CoV-۲ ، COVID-۱۹ ، Liver transplant patients ، Iran