A woman in Michigan died 61 days after surgery after receiving a pair of lungs from an organ donor. Later, in a case announced in February, it was reported that an organ donor was infected with COVID-19.
Unfortunately, there were no signs that a female organ donor who died in a car accident was infected with COVID-19. The doctor did an X-ray of her chest and a nasal swab test, both of which gave negative results.
But when Ann Arbor’s lung transplant recipients at the university hospital began to deteriorate, doctors immediately doubted the outcome. It was later concluded, American Journal of Transplantation (((Donor to SARS-CoV-2 recipient infection by lung transplantation despite negative upper respiratory tract test) On February 10, after receiving infected lungs, the recipient died of COVID-19, which also infected his doctor.
With Dr. Juleslin, the author of the report The surgeon in charge says“We want the transplant community to be aware that this can happen,” he added. “There is something we can do to improve our success in screening patients with COVID.”
Survival rate of lung transplantation during COVID-19 pandemic
More than a year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic upset the world, with approximately 72 million cases reported and 1.6 million deaths worldwide. Researchers believe that end-stage lung disease caused by severe COVID-19 infection can greatly benefit from lung transplantation.
On the other hand, data on perioperative management, patient selection, and expected outcomes are limited.
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Therefore, researchers sought a systematic review of medical literature such as the Web of Science and MEDLINE databases, manuscripts, commentary, gray literature reports on lung transplants, editorials, and cases from the University of Virginia.
Combining data from 27 studies, including 5 commentaries, 11 manuscripts, and 11 gray literature reports, the researchers concluded that the total number of COVID-related lung disease transplants was 21.
The average age was 55 to 12 years. 76% of the cases were male and the visual acuity was as high as 85%. The findings show 95% premature survival mortality in one analyzed case with late mortality.
Evidence indicates that there is histopathological evidence of permanent structural damage during transplantation without replicative virus.
This allows researchers to Meta-analysis (((Severe Post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 Lung Transplant for Respiratory Failure) Bilateral lung transplantation can be an effective treatment option for patients with end-stage lung failure due to COVID-19 infection with reasonable short-term consequences..
Researchers, meanwhile, note that special care for new populations that require an interdisciplinary approach can protect the effectiveness of transplants.
Minimizing the risk of COVID infection by transplantation
According to the letter published in Journal of Bronchology & Interventional Pulmonology Medical professionals can consider using samples from the lower respiratory tract of organ donors that are out of reach of the nasal swab due to trace amounts of coronavirus.
However, invasive procedures are not recommended for the general public and are not available in most cases, and only one-third of the lungs provided are tested in the same way.
With the increasing number of COVID-19 complications being studied by researchers, lung transplantation is a viable treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease due to severe COVID-19 infection. However, researchers say this is not an easy task, requires close screening of donors, and requires further attention to ensure successful lung transplants.
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