COVID-19 in Liver Transplant Patients: A University Hospital Experience

We aimed to examine the comorbidity, disease progress, and vaccination status of liver transplant patients followed up in our hospital who had COVID-19.

Liver transplant patients with COVID-19 were included between 11 March 2020 and 15 September 2022. Demographic data, disease progress, and COVID-19 vaccines were recorded. The SPSS 24.0 (IBM SPSS, Inc, Armonk, NY, United States) program was used for analysis. The data were analyzed using the χ² test. P values < .05 were considered clinically significant.

Sixteen SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (+) patients were detected. Twelve (75.0%) patients were male; the mean age was 49.56 ± 14.0 years (24-76 years). The mean transplant time was 156.69 ± 54.05 months. Four (25.0%) of the 5 (31.3%) patients with comorbidities had hypertension, and 1 (6.3%) had diabetes. None of the patients had an underlying lung disease. All the patients received immunosuppressive therapy, and the most common combination was antimetabolite and calcineurin inhibitor (9 patients [69.2%]). Nine patients (56.3%) had a fever, whereas 6 (37.5%) had respiratory symptoms. Two (33.3%) had pneumonia. Five (31.4%) patients were hospitalized, and 1 (20%) was admitted to the intensive care unit due to non-invasive mechanical ventilation needs. No patient died due to COVID-19. A statistically significant correlation was found between the presence of fever, respiratory symptoms, and hospitalization (P < .05). Of those vaccinated, 10 (66.7%) were infected before the COVID-19 vaccination.

The course of COVID-19 in liver recipients without any underlying disease other than transplantation is not different from that in the healthy population. Immunosuppressive therapy was continued in patients with the disease, and two-thirds did not require hospitalization.