Since Dec. 2019 the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has infected millions and claimed life of several hundred thousand worldwide. However, so far no approved vaccine or drug therapy is available for treatment of virus infection. Convalescent plasma has been considered a potential modality for COVID-19 infection. One hundred eighty-nine COVID-19 positive patients including 115 patients in plasma therapy group and 74 patients in control group, registered in the hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 infection, entered this multi-center clinical study. Comparison of outcomes including all-cause mortality, total hospitalization days and patients’ need for intubation between the two patient groups shows that total of 98 (98.2 %) of patients who received convalescent plasma were discharged from hospital which is substantially higher compared to 56 (78.7 %) patients in control group. Length of hospitalization days was significantly lower (9.54 days) in convalescent plasma group compared with that of control group (12.88 days). Only 8 patients (7%) in convalescent plasma group required intubation while that was 20 % in control group. This clinical study provides strong evidence to support the efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy in COVID-19 patients and recommends this treatment for management of these patients. Clinical efficacy, immediate availability and potential cost effectiveness could be considered as main advantages of convalescent plasma therapy.

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Background:There are growing numbers of patients with end-stage renal disease globally at an unexpected rate. Today, the most serious challenge in transplantation is organ shortage; hence, using deceased donor is increasingly encouraged.Objectives:The aim of the study was to investigate the differences in survival rates between kidney transplant recipients with deceased donor and living donor.Patients and Methods:In a retrospective cohort study, 218 patients who had undergone kidney transplantation in our institute from April 2008 to September 2010 were recruited. Demographics and post-transplantation follow-up data including immunosuppression regimens, rejection episodes, and survival rates were evaluated. The patients were assigned to two groups according to the donor kidney transplantation: group I, living donor kidney transplants; and group II, deceased donor kidney transplants.Results:Although there were no significant differences in one-year survival rates of patient and graft between study groups, three-years survival rates of patient and graft were significantly longer in living donor kidney transplants in comparison with the deceased donor kidney recipients (P = 0.006 and P = 0.004, respectively). In Cox-regression model after adjusting for other confounding factors such as age, sex, diabetes mellitus, and first- or second-time transplantation, overall patient and graft survivals were also significantly shorter in deceased kidney transplantation than those who received kidney from a living donor (HR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.2-10.4; and P = 0.02 for patient survival; and HR, 5.4; 95% CI, 1.5-19.5; and P = 0.009 for graft survival).Conclusions:We found acceptable short-term survival in both groups; however, living donor recipients continue to have better long-term patient and graft survival rates.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common among patients undergoing haemodialysis, and liver disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in this population. Management of HCV-related liver disease is a major health concern in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing haemodialysis. To investigate the prevalence of HCV infection in patients on haemodialysis and its associated risk factors, we conducted a prospective case series study of 838 patients on haemodialysis in Tehran, Iran. Patients were selected randomly (cluster sampling) and all were screened for anti-HCV antibodies, using ELISA 3rd generation and confirmed by using RIBA 2nd generation. We found that 111 patients (13.2%) were infected. By applying univariate analysis, longer duration on haemodialysis (P = 0.000), more weekly dialysis sessions (P = 0.03), history of blood transfusion (P = 0.03) and history of previous renal transplantation (P = 0.01) were found to be associated with a higher rate of HCV infection. Multivariate analysis revealed that only length of time on dialysis (P = 0.000) and history of blood transfusion (P = 0.02) were significantly associated with HCV infection. The more the units transfused, the higher the rate of HCV infection. Our results suggest that early transplantation and avoidance of blood transfusion, as much as possible, are the two most important practical interventions to reduce the HCV exposure rate in our patients on haemodialysis.

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