Early use of tocilizumab in respiratory failure associated with acute COVID -19 pneumonia in recipients with solid organ transplantation

Suresh J Antony; Joya Singh; Mikhail de Jesus; Jessalyn Lance

doi:10.1016/j.idcr.2020.e00888

Early use of tocilizumab in respiratory failure associated with acute COVID -19 pneumonia in recipients with solid organ transplantation

IDCases. 2020 Jun 26:21:e00888. doi: 10.1016/j.idcr.2020.e00888. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Suresh J Antony¹, Joya Singh², Mikhail de Jesus², Jessalyn Lance²

Affiliations

¹ Texas Tech University Health Sciences, El Paso, TX, United States.
² Burrell College of OsteoPathic Medicine, Las Cruces, NM, United States.

Abstract

As of May 14, 2020, the World Health Organization has reported approximately 4.3 million cases of the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) with approximately 294,046 deaths worldwide [1]. Solid organ transplant recipients who are on chronic immunosuppressants fall within a special population of COVID-19 patients since they are more susceptible to complications secondary to COVID-19. Currently, we do not have data on treating COVID-19 patients with solid organ transplants with tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitor. We report a case of COVID-19 in a patient with a kidney and liver transplant and discuss the early use of tocilizumab to prevent the cytokine storm and attempt to reduce the likelihood of progression to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). In addition, we present other COVID-19 related transplant cases reported in the literature outlining the presenting clinical signs and outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; Liver transplant; Renal transplant.

Publication types

Case Reports