Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to impact immunocompromised populations including solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have shown effectiveness in reducing COVID-19-related hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits in SOTRs at different time frames in the COVID-19 pandemic; however, less data exist on the impact of mAbs for SOTRs across variant waves and with the advent of available COVID-19 vaccines.
Methods: This retrospective study included SOTR outpatients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and received mAbs from December 2020 to February 2022 (n = 233); using in-house sequencing of clinical samples, we monitored the emergence of Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. The primary outcome was a composite of 29-day COVID-19-related hospitalizations and ED visits. Prespecified secondary outcomes included individual components of the primary endpoint; for patients requiring hospitalization post-mAb administration, we describe their inpatient treatment.
Results: A low percentage of SOTRs treated with mAb required hospitalization or an ED visit (14.6% overall); this did not differ across COVID-19 variants (p = .152). Hospitalization and ED visits did not significantly differ between abdominal and cardiothoracic SOTRs. For hospitalized patients, the majority received treatment with corticosteroids and few required intensive care unit (ICU) care.
Conclusion: Among SOTR outpatients with mild or moderate COVID-19 symptoms, early administration of mAb minimizes the need for hospital care. For patients requiring hospitalization, corticosteroids were common but patients experienced low rates of oxygen supplementation and ICU care. Use of mAbs in SOTRs should be considered early in the disease when therapy is available.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; monoclonal antibodies; solid organ transplant.
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