RESUMO
Kidney transplant recipients who are at increased risk for COVID-19 infection and associated morbidity and mortality have been shown to be prone to an impaired humoral immune response to a standard vaccination schedule against COVID-19 with two doses of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines. In this study, response rate of 94 kidney transplant recipients without detectable seroconversion after two doses of a mRNA vaccine who were offered a timely third mRNA vaccine after completion of the standard vaccination schedule was retrospectively analyzed. After a median of 28 days, antibody titers against the S1 spike protein showed a non-response rate of 53%. No significant risk factors for non-response could be identified. The responders showed a high variation in antibody titers (median 73.9 BAU/mL, IQR 221.5). In conclusion, a third booster mRNA vaccine in non-responding kidney transplant recipients leads to a detectable humoral immune response in approximately half of the patients. In the seroconversion group, antibody titers were highly variable, indicating that even non-responders to the standard vaccination schedule might develop a significant humoral immune response after a timely booster vaccine.
RESUMO
Kidney transplantation has become the standard treatment for end-stage renal disease. Even though the success rates are high, early and late post-transplant complications remain a major clinical problem due to the risk of graft failure. Therefore, it is of highest interest to early diagnose post-transplant complications. Ultrasound with color coded Duplex analysis plays a crucial role in imaging mechanical and vascular complications. In this article, we give an update of the visualizable complications in kidney transplant recipients and discuss the value of resistive index (RI) measurement with its limitations in allograft rejection.