Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in liver transplant recipients of a large volume transplant center in Latin America

Introduction and Objectives

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected liver transplantation (LT) worldwide, with higher mortality observed in patients with chronic diseases. However, the impact of COVID-19 on transplant recipients, particularly those on immunosuppressive therapy, has been variably reported.

Our center’s historical 90-day LT mortality is 8%, and with waiting list mortality exceeding 35%, we kept our program operational, pausing elective Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT) for three months to minimize donor risk.

This study evaluates LT outcomes during the pandemic, particularly SARS-CoV-2 infection-related mortality, in 104 patients transplanted during the first COVID-19 wave.

Materials and Methods

We conducted a retrospective review of patients who underwent LT between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, at our center in Santiago, Chile. All recipients tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 pre-transplant, and COVID-19 cases were tracked postoperatively.

Results

Among 104 adult patients, 84% were elective cases, 15% emergency, and 1% re-transplant. The mean age was 56.2 ±12.5; 56% male. The most frequent indications were NAFLD (41%), hepatocarcinoma (23%), autoimmune hepatitis (16%), and alcoholic liver disease (14%). Deceased donors provided 79.8% of the grafts, while living donors accounted for 20.2%. The mean MELD score was 22.5± 9.5. Nineteen recipients (18.3%) acquired postoperative RT-PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection; 73.6% were symptomatic, and 26.3 % had early infections. Most had mild symptoms of COVID-19, requiring only symptomatic treatment (10/19; 52.6%). One patient required non-invasive mechanical ventilation (5.3%), and 3 required invasive mechanical ventilation (3/19;15.8%), with mortality in all of them. The overall 90-day post-transplant mortality rate in the cohort was 7.7%. Among non-infected patients, it was 5.9%, while in recipients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, it reached 15.8%. In early infected patients, mortality was 40% (2/5).

Conclusions

In conclusion, while SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly affected LT recipients, the post-transplant mortality in infected patients remained lower than waiting list mortality.