26 October 2021: Original Paper
Safety of Antithymocyte Globulin Use in Kidney Graft Recipients During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Aureliusz Kolonko ABCDEF* , Andrzej Więcek AEDOI: 10.12659/AOT.933001
Ann Transplant 2021; 26:e933001
Table 1 Clinical characteristics of kidney transplant recipients treated with antithymocyte globulin during the pre-pandemic era (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020/2021).
| Antithymocyte globulin | Basiliximab | Statistics | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As induction therapy | As anti-rejection therapy | |||
| N | 25 | 6 | 59 | |
| Age [years]* | 44.0 (39.0–54.0) | 51.0 (42.0–62.0) | 48.0 (38.0–58.0) | 0.96 |
| Sex [M/F] | 12/13 | 4/2 | 35/24 | 0.49 |
| BMI [kg/m]* | 23.3 (21.6–26.5) | 27.6 (24.2–31.1) | 25.2 (22.9–29.0) | 0.23 |
| Dialysis vintage [months]* | 39 (28–58) | 29 (26–44) | 29 (18–39) | 0.01 |
| Transplant number [1/2] | 18/7 | 6/0 | 58/1 | 0.001 |
| CIT [h]* | 15.8 (12.1–23.0) | 20.9 (11.9–24.7) | 16.9 (12.6–20.1) | 0.46 |
| Last pre-transplant PRA [%] | 5.1 (2.9–9.9) | 0.5 (−0.8–1.8) | 0.3 (0–0.5) | 0.06 |
| Maximum PRA [%] | 15.5 (8.0–22.9) | 0.5 (−0.8–1.8) | 1.0 (0.4–1.6) | |
| Maximum PRA >30% [n,%] | 7 (28) | 0 | 0 | |
| HLA class I mismatch* | 2 (2–3) | 2 (2–3) | 2.5 (2–3) | 0.25 |
| HLA class II mismatch* | 1 (1–1) | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | 0.09 |
| Pretransplant anti-HLA class I [MFI]* | 8290 (3349–17966), range 0–23605 | 1682 (1326–2295), range 1130–2746 | 1629 (693–5351), range 0–19150 | 0.002 |
| Pretransplant anti-HLA class II [MFI]* | 1922 (483–14019), range 0–21419 | 1023 (0–2105), range 0–2105 | 986 (673–1455), range 0–10785 | 0.25 |
| Tacrolimus trough level POD 10 [ng/ml]* | 9.3 (7.5–10.1) | 9.6 (8.0–10.5) | 8.9 (6.8–10.8) | 0.67 |
| Mycophenolate level POD 10 [ng/ml] | 2.1 (1.4–2.9) | 1.8 (1.6–2.5) | 2.1 (1.6–3.0) | 0.49 |
| Data presented as means with 95% confidence interval or * medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) or frequencies. Statistics: for the comparison of all ATG patients with basiliximab patients. ATG – antithymocyte globulin; BMI – body mass index; CIT – cold ischemia time; PRA – panel-reactive antibodies; HLA – human leukocyte antigen; MFI – mean fluorescence index; POD – post-operative day. | ||||