Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of heart transplant recipients during the 2019 coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China: A descriptive survey report

The epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of heart transplant (HTx) recipients during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic remains unclear. We studied the characteristics of HTx recipients from December 20, 2019, to February 25, 2020, in an effort to understand their risk and outcomes. All accessible HTx recipients were included in this single-center retrospective study. We collected information on the recipients using a web-based questionnaire as well as the hospital database. We followed 87 HTx recipients (72.4% were men, and the average age was 51 years). A total of 79 recipients resided in Hubei, and 57 recipients had a Wuhan-related history of travel or contact. Most took precautionary measures while in contact with suspicious crowds, and 96.6% of the families and communities undertook prevention and quarantine procedures. Four upper airway infections were reported, and 3 of them tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 (the fourth recovered and was not tested). All cases were mild and successfully recovered after proper treatment. Laboratory results of 47 HTx cases within the last 2 months were extracted. Of these, 21.3% of recipients had pre-existing lymphopenia, and 87.2% of recipients had a therapeutic concentration of tacrolimus (5–12 ng/ml). Liver and kidney insufficiency was seen in 5 and 6 recipients, respectively. HTx recipients who practiced appropriate prevention measures had a low rate of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and transition to the associated disease COVID-19. These early data will require confirmation as the pandemic establishes around the world.