Evaluation of Virtual Care in Kidney Transplant Recipients in the Early Posttransplant Period

• Published in: Clinical transplantation Vol. 38; no. 9; pp. e15459 - n/a
• Main Authors: Almarzouk, Saad, Alazwari, Monther, Matias, Evangelyn Grace, Clase, Catherine M., Yohanna, Seychelle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Denmark 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; clinic; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Glomerular Filtration Rate; Graft Rejection - etiology; Graft Rejection - prevention & control; Graft Survival; Humans; Kidney Failure, Chronic - surgery; kidney transplant; Kidney Transplantation; Male; Middle Aged; Prognosis; quality; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Telemedicine; Transplant Recipients - statistics & numerical data; virtual care; kidney transplant; clinic; virtual care; quality
• ISSN: 0902-0063; 1399-0012; 1399-0012
• DOI: 10.1111/ctr.15459

ABSTRACT
Background
Though virtual care was widely adopted during the COVID‐19 pandemic, evidence to support its use in kidney transplant recipients early after transplantation is limited.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective cohort study comparing post kidney transplant outcomes in patients who received in‐person transplant care before the COVID‐19 pandemic with those who received mainly virtual transplant care during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The usual‐care group included 69 patients who received a kidney transplant from March 1, 2019 to September 1, 2019, and the virtual‐care group included 64 patients who received a kidney transplant from September 1, 2020 to March 1, 2021.
Results
At 6 months, five patients in the usual‐care group and three patients in the virtual‐care group died. There was one graft loss and one episode of acute rejection in the usual‐care group, and two episodes of acute rejection in the virtual‐care group (p = 0.60). Estimated glomerular filtration rate was higher for patients in the virtual‐care group (59 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs. 52 mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.046) and serum creatinine was not different (138 µmol/L vs. 127 µmol/L, p = 0.27). There was no difference in mean blood pressure or hospitalizations.
Conclusion
Outcomes were similar among recipients of a kidney transplant prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic when care was mainly in person and during the pandemic when care was mainly virtual, without a signal of harm. Patient and donor selection may have led to unmeasured differences between groups.