Q&A: Kidney donations from deceased donors with COVID-19 seen as safe
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Kidney transplant recipients do not contract COVID-19 from accepting a kidney donation from a COVID-19-positive deceased donor, according to data published in the Journal of Urology.
In a retrospective review, the Cleveland Clinic transplant team examined data for 55 patients who received a kidney donation from 34 deceased donors with COVID-19 between February 2021 and October 2021. All donors tested positive for COVID-19 within a median of 4 days of organ donation.
Analyses and follow-ups revealed no kidney transplant recipients contracted COVID-19 from the transplant. The team concluded in this initial retrospective review that a kidney donation from a COVID-19-positive deceased donor is safe.
Healio interviewed study author Alvin Wee, MD, MBA, the program director for the kidney programs at Cleveland Clinic, to further discuss the study findings.
Healio: What prompted you and your team to conduct this research?
Wee: Despite the record-breaking number of transplantations in 2021 here in the United States, there are still 90,000 people on the transplant list who need a kidney. As COVID-19 spreads, organ donations from this group of donors were affected, as almost all of the Organ Procurement Organizations here in the U.S. would walk away from these cases. At Cleveland Clinic, we pushed the envelope with one goal in mind: to help and deliver the best care for our patients. As more patients were added to the waitlist and [COVID-19-positive deceased donor organs were being turned] away, the team strongly wanted to explore the utilization of kidneys with these types of donors. As we started to do this conservatively and changed our protocols as more knowledge was accrued, we were inspired by the families of the deceased donors who were grateful that we were able to use the organs of their loved ones to help others. The families are very thankful that we were able to bring some meaning to these senseless COVID-19 deaths. Overall, we sought to answer the question: Is accepting a kidney from a COVID-19-positive donor safe?
Healio: Can you describe the study?
Wee: We conducted a retrospective review of 55 patients and 34 COVID-19-positive deceased donors. In this series, about two-thirds of donors died from what was not COVID-related, but turned out to be COVID-19 positive, while the remaining donors died from COVID-19. All patients had good kidney function. There was no difference in our immunosuppression management postoperatively. COVID-19 PCR tests were conducted 7 to 10 days after the transplantation.
Healio: What are the clinical findings of this study?
Not one of the recipients contracted COVID-19 after receiving a kidney transplant from a COVID-19-positive deceased donor. All kidney graft functions are excellent. We have one patient who died from his comorbidities. He never tested positive during the whole post-transplant follow-up.
Healio: Are other organs able to be transplanted, or just kidneys?
Wee: We have also utilized livers from COVID-19 deceased donors. There are some reports of utilized hearts.
Healio: If a recipient is infected with COVID after the transplantation, will the infection be more severe than if the recipient received an organ from a deceased donor without COVID?
Wee: That will require further research. With this study, we focused on answering the question of whether or not the transplantation would be as safe a transplantation from a healthy deceased donor.
Healio: Does this impact the vaccination process for the recipient?
Wee: No. We encourage all immunocompromised patients to continue receiving the COVID-19 vaccinations they are eligible to get. At Cleveland Clinic, patients who are on the waitlist need to be vaccinated. Receiving a kidney donation from a COVID-19-positive deceased donor does not change the vaccine recommendations set by the CDC.
Healio: What are the next steps for this research?
Wee: We conducted a follow-up study that included more than 100 kidney transplant recipients who got their organ from a COVID-positive donor and compared these to recipients who did not. It has been recently submitted for publication. One thing I can share is the outcomes are excellent and promising.
Collapse
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts