%0 Journal Article
%T Impact of COVID-19 on liver transplant recipients: A nationwide cohort study evaluating hospitalization, transplant rejection, and inpatient mortality.
%A Inayat F
%A Patel P
%A Ali H
%A Afzal A
%A Tahir H
%A Chaudhry A
%A Ishtiaq R
%A Rehman AU
%A Darji K
%A Afzal MS
%A Nawaz G
%A Giammarino A
%A Satapathy SK
%J World J Transplant
%V 14
%N 2
%D 2024 Jun 18
%M 38947960
暂无%R 10.5500/wjt.v14.i2.90866
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a major public health concern worldwide. Patients with comorbid conditions are at risk of adverse outcomes following COVID-19. Solid organ transplant recipients with concurrent immunosuppression and comorbidities are more susceptible to a severe COVID-19 infection. It could lead to higher rates of inpatient complications and mortality in this patient population. However, studies on COVID-19 outcomes in liver transplant (LT) recipients have yielded inconsistent findings.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-related outcomes among LT recipients in the United States.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the 2019-2020 National Inpatient Sample database. Patients with primary LT hospitalizations and a secondary COVID-19 diagnosis were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision coding system. The primary outcomes included trends in LT hospitalizations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary outcomes included comparative trends in inpatient mortality and transplant rejection in LT recipients.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A total of 15720 hospitalized LT recipients were included. Approximately 0.8% of patients had a secondary diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. In both cohorts, the median admission age was 57 years. The linear trends for LT hospitalizations did not differ significantly before and during the pandemic (P = 0.84). The frequency of in-hospital mortality for LT recipients increased from 1.7% to 4.4% between January 2019 and December 2020. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, a higher association was noted between LT recipients and in-hospital mortality during the pandemic, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.69 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55-1.84), P < 0.001]. The frequency of transplant rejections among hospitalized LT recipients increased from 0.2% to 3.6% between January 2019 and December 2020. LT hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic had a higher association with transplant rejection than before the pandemic [OR: 1.53 (95%CI: 1.26-1.85), P < 0.001].<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>The hospitalization rates for LT recipients were comparable before and during the pandemic. Inpatient mortality and transplant rejection rates for hospitalized LT recipients were increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.