Successful recovery of COVID-19 pneumonia in a renal transplant recipient with long-term immunosuppression

Lan Zhu; Xizhen Xu; Ke Ma; Junling Yang; Hanxiong Guan; Song Chen; Zhishui Chen; Gang Chen

doi:10.1111/ajt.15869

Successful recovery of COVID-19 pneumonia in a renal transplant recipient with long-term immunosuppression

Am J Transplant. 2020 Jul;20(7):1859-1863. doi: 10.1111/ajt.15869. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Authors

Lan Zhu^{1

2}, Xizhen Xu³, Ke Ma⁴, Junling Yang⁵, Hanxiong Guan⁶, Song Chen^{1

2}, Zhishui Chen^{1

2}, Gang Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Organ Transplantation, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Cardiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Infectious Disease, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁵ Department of Respiratory Medicine, Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.

Abstract

The current outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has raised great concern worldwide, but its impact on transplant recipients is unknown. We report here the clinical features and therapeutic course of the first reported renal transplant recipient with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. This is a 52-year-old man who received kidney transplantation 12 years ago. His overall clinical characteristics (symptoms, laboratory examinations, and chest CT) were similar to those of non-transplanted COVID-19 patients. Following a treatment regimen consisting of reduced immunosuppressant use and low dose methylprednisolone-based therapy, the COVID-19 pneumonia in this long-term immunosuppressive patient was successfully recovered. This effectively treated case has reference value for the future treatment of other transplant patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; immunosuppression; pneumonia; renal transplantation.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
China
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Coronavirus Infections / therapy*
Glomerulonephritis / complications
Glomerulonephritis / surgery*
Humans
Immunocompromised Host
Immunosuppression Therapy / adverse effects*
Immunosuppressive Agents / administration & dosage
Kidney Failure, Chronic / complications
Kidney Failure, Chronic / surgery*
Kidney Transplantation*
Male
Methylprednisolone / administration & dosage
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
Pneumonia, Viral / therapy*
SARS-CoV-2
Transplant Recipients
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Immunosuppressive Agents
Methylprednisolone