Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant reductions in transplantation, motivated in part by concerns of disproportionately more severe disease among solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. However, clinical features, outcomes, and predictors of mortality in SOT recipients are not well-described. Methods We performed a multi-center cohort study of SOT recipients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Data were collected using standardized intake and 28-day follow-up electronic case report forms. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for the primary endpoint, 28-day mortality, among hospitalized patients. Results Four hundred eighty-two SOT recipients from >50 transplant centers were included: 318 (66%) kidney or kidney/pancreas, 73 (15.1%) liver, 57 (11.8%) heart, and 30 (6.2%) lung. Median age was 58 (IQR 46-57), median time post-transplant was 5 years (IQR 2-10), 61% were male, and 92% had ≥1 underlying comorbidity. Among those hospitalized (376 [78%]), 117 (31%) required mechanical ventilation, and 77 (20.5%) died by 28 days after diagnosis. Specific underlying comorbidities (age >65 [aOR 3.0, 95%CI 1.7-5.5, p<0.001], congestive heart failure [aOR 3.2, 95%CI 1.4-7.0, p=0.004], chronic lung disease [aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.2-5.2, p=0.018], obesity [aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.4, p=0.039]) and presenting findings (lymphopenia [aOR 1.9, 95%CI 1.1-3.5, p=0.033], abnormal chest imaging [aOR 2.9, 95%CI 1.1-7.5, p=0.027]) were independently associated with mortality. Multiple measures of immunosuppression intensity were not associated with mortality. Conclusions Mortality among SOT recipients hospitalized for COVID-19 was 20.5%. Age and underlying comorbidities rather than immunosuppression intensity-related measures were major drivers of mortality.

Mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID‐19 has declined over the course of the pandemic. Mortality trends specifically in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) are unknown. Using data from a multicenter registry of SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19, we compared 28‐day mortality between early 2020 (March 1, 2020–June 19, 2020) and late 2020 (June 20, 2020–December 31, 2020). Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess comorbidity‐adjusted mortality. Time period of diagnosis was available for 1435/1616 (88.8%) SOTR and 971/1435 (67.7%) were hospitalized: 571/753 (75.8%) in early 2020 and 402/682 (58.9%) in late 2020 ( p < .001). Crude 28‐day mortality decreased between the early and late periods (112/571 [19.6%] vs. 55/402 [13.7%]) and remained lower in the late period even after adjusting for baseline comorbidities (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.46–0.98, p = .016). Between the early and late periods, the use of corticosteroids (≥6 mg dexamethasone/day) and remdesivir increased (62/571 [10.9%] vs. 243/402 [61.5%], p < .001 and 50/571 [8.8%] vs. 213/402 [52.2%], p < .001, respectively), and the use of hydroxychloroquine and IL‐6/IL‐6 receptor inhibitor decreased (329/571 [60.0%] vs. 4/492 [1.0%], p < .001 and 73/571 [12.8%] vs. 5/402 [1.2%], p < .001, respectively). Mortality among SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19 declined between early and late 2020, consistent with trends reported in the general population. The mechanism(s) underlying improved survival require further study.

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Lung transplant recipients (LTR) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) may have higher mortality than non‐lung solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR), but direct comparisons are limited. Risk factors for mortality specifically in LTR have not been explored. We performed a multicenter cohort study of adult SOTR with COVID‐19 to compare mortality by 28 days between hospitalized LTR and non‐lung SOTR. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess comorbidity‐adjusted mortality among LTR vs. non‐lung SOTR and to determine risk factors for death in LTR. Of 1,616 SOTR with COVID‐19, 1,081 (66%) were hospitalized including 120/159 (75%) LTR and 961/1457 (66%) non‐lung SOTR (p = .02). Mortality was higher among LTR compared to non‐lung SOTR (24% vs. 16%, respectively, p = .032), and lung transplant was independently associated with death after adjusting for age and comorbidities (aOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0–2.6, p = .04). Among LTR, chronic lung allograft dysfunction (aOR 3.3, 95% CI 1.0–11.3, p = .05) was the only independent risk factor for mortality and age >65 years, heart failure and obesity were not independently associated with death. Among SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19, LTR had higher mortality than non‐lung SOTR. In LTR, chronic allograft dysfunction was independently associated with mortality.