Lung transplantation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Safely navigating the new "normal".

Abstract

In the United States, an overall national decline in organ transplants has accompanied the substantial burden of COVID-19. Amidst significant regional variations in COVID-19, lung transplantation (LTx) remains a critical life-saving operation. Our LTx practice during the early pandemic may provide a blueprint for managing LTx in an era of continued community prevalence. Patients who underwent LTx at our institution between March 1 and May 20, 2020 were included. Recipient, operative, and donor characteristics were compared to those from our program in 2019, and COVID-19 testing practices were evaluated for March, April, and May to understand how our practice adapted to the pandemic. Our program performed 36 LTx, 33% more than the same period in 2019. Recipient, operative, and donor characteristics during COVID-19 were similar to those in 2019. By April 1, all donors and recipients underwent pretransplant COVID-19 testing, all returning negative results. To date, no recipients have developed posttransplant COVID-19. At our institution, pretransplant COVID-19 testing, use of local donor lungs, and avoidance of donors from areas of increased community penetration supported a safe and effective LTx practice during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Continued follow-up is required to ensure the long-term safety of these newly transplanted patients.

• Authors: Samantha E Halpern, Danae G Olaso, Madison K Krischak, John M Reynolds, John C Haney, Jacob A Klapper, Matthew G Hartwig
• Journal: American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (Am J Transplant) Vol. 20 Issue 11 Pg. 3094-3105 (11 2020) ISSN: 1600-6143 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 32894641 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2020 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Topics

• Aged
• COVID-19 (epidemiology)
• Comorbidity
• Female
• Humans
• Lung Transplantation (methods)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pandemics
• Retrospective Studies
• SARS-CoV-2
• Tissue Donors (supply & distribution)
• Transplant Recipients
• United States (epidemiology)