TY - JOUR T1 - COVID-19 in an international European liver transplant recipient cohort JF - Gut JO - Gut DO - 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321923 SP - gutjnl-2020-321923 AU - Chiara Becchetti AU - Marco Fabrizio Zambelli AU - Luisa Pasulo AU - Maria Francesca Donato AU - Federica Invernizzi AU - Olivier Detry AU - Géraldine Dahlqvist AU - Olga Ciccarelli AU - Maria Cristina Morelli AU - Montserrat Fraga AU - Gianluca Svegliati-Baroni AU - Hans van Vlierberghe AU - Minneke J Coenraad AU - Mario Cristobal Romero AU - Andrea de Gottardi AU - Pierluigi Toniutto AU - Luca Del Prete AU - Claudia Abbati AU - Didier Samuel AU - Jacques Pirenne AU - Frederik Nevens AU - Jean-François Dufour A2 - , Y1 - 2020/06/22 UR - http://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2020/06/25/gutjnl-2020-321923.abstract N2 - Objective Knowledge on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in liver transplant recipients is lacking, particularly in terms of severity of the disease. The aim of this study was to describe the demographic, baseline clinical characteristics and early outcomes of a European cohort of liver transplant recipients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.Design We conducted an international prospective study across Europe on liver transplant recipients with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by microbiological assay during the first outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Baseline characteristics, clinical presentation, management of immunosuppressive therapy and outcomes were collected.Results 57 patients were included (70% male, median (IQR) age at diagnosis 65 (57–70) years). 21 (37%), 32 (56%) and 21 (37%) patients had one cardiovascular disease, arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus, respectively. The most common symptoms were fever (79%), cough (55%), dyspnoea (46%), fatigue or myalgia (56%) and GI symptoms (33%). Immunosuppression was reduced in 22 recipients (37%) and discontinued in 4 (7%). With this regard, no impact on outcome was observed. Forty-one (72%) subjects were hospitalised and 11 (19%) developed acute respiratory distress syndrome. Overall, we estimated a case fatality rate of 12% (95% CI 5% to 24%), which increased to 17% (95% CI 7% to 32%) among hospitalised patients. Five out of the seven patients who died had a history of cancer.Conclusion In this European multicentre prospective study of liver transplant recipients, COVID-19 was associated with an overall and in-hospital fatality rate of 12% (95% CI 5% to 24%) and 17% (95% CI 7% to 32%), respectively. A history of cancer was more frequent in patients with poorer outcome. ER -