Post-COVID-19 complications in kidney transplant recipients

Background. Although most people recover from acute COVID-19 within a few weeks, some have long-lasting clinical problems. The prevalence of these prolonged complications in kidney transplant (KT) recipients has not been determined. Materials and methods. Six months following of 148 patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome admitted to three centers in Iran (Tehran, Shiraz and Babol) that underwent KT were included in this study. Also, one-hundred COVID-19 patients without KT were included as the control group. The demographic data, medications, and disease course were recorded. The baseline and demographic characteristics were analyzed using the Chi-square test. Moreover, students t-test were utilized to compare case and control groups. Results. The total number of patients was 248, of which 148 were in the case groups. Hospitalization associated with COVID-19 was for all patients; besides, there were 18 patients in control and 24 case groups admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). The most commonly reported symptom was fever. Multivariate analysis identified the history of chronic kidney disease, hypertension, cerebral vascular accident, and diabetes mellites as predictors for developing post-COVID clinical complications. Conclusion. Evidence shows the high commonness of post-COVID-19 syndrome among kidney transplant patients after COVID-19, and the most common symptoms were fever, chills, and myalgia. So, all patients recovered from acute COVID-19 should undergo long-term monitoring to evaluate and treat possible complications.