Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Solid Organ Transplant

Abstract

Introduction COVID-19 has drastically impacted the transplant services, but there is limited understanding the discrepancy in COVID-19 impact over various regions of the world. Methods We have explored the global observatory for organ donation and transplantation (GODT) data for assessing the transplant number changes between the calendar year 2019(n = 157301) and 2020(129681). Results There was disproportionate impact of COVID-19 for different areas of the world. Globally, there was a decline of 17.5%, in which deceased donation, kidney (20.9%), pancreas (16.2%), lung (12.7%), liver (11.3%) and heart (8%) transplantation declined disproportionally in different regions of the world. While pandemic affected almost all geographic regions and nations, but China and USA were mostly able to recover from the initial halt of the transplant practices by the pandemic, so that there was a cumulative increase in transplant numbers. Conclusion Our data, shows that developing nations lagged behind and developed nations have been able to recover their transplantation programs in the pandemic. Further policy making and preparedness is required to safeguard the most vulnerable areas of the world to minimize the impact of any future pandemic in transplantation practices.

Humoral and cellular response of COVID‐19 vaccine among solid organ transplant recipients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“… 1 Solid organ transplantation (SOT) population is among the most vulnerable groups for high morbidity and mortality in the pandemic. 2 , 3 To add to the burden, the vaccine response in SOT has not been encouraging. So far, all the large‐scale randomized controlled trials 4 , 5 for various COVID‐19 vaccines have excluded SOT.…”

“…Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2) vaccine is the prime arsenal for battling the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic because of the failure of definitive therapy 1 . Solid organ transplantation (SOT) population is among the most vulnerable groups for high morbidity and mortality in the pandemic 2,3 . To add to the burden, the vaccine response in SOT has not been encouraging.…”

Liver transplantation amidst the COVID-19 era: Our center’s experience

“…The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic represented an unforeseen crisis to healthcare systems and transplant centers around the world, resulting in significant changes to solid organ transplant (SOT) practices[ 1 , 2 ]. At the beginning of the pandemic, a decrease in SOT was observed and attributed to multiple factors, which included a shortage of resources and staff, a saturation of critical care beds, changes to the donor pool, and uncertainty regarding optimal post-transplant immunosuppressive therapy.…”

Outcomes of Patients Receiving a Kidney Transplant or Remaining on the Transplant Waiting List at the Epicentre of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Europe: An Observational Comparative Study

“…This debate particularly applied to kidney transplantation (KT), because dialysis can indefinitely delay surgery without immediate consequences for the patient. Many national and international KT centres stopped their programmes, at least temporarily, to avoid dealing with an unmeasurable hazard or because they could not promptly reorganise and adapt to the new global scenario [ 8 , 14 , 15 ]. Frequently, the continuation or resumption of the transplant activity was associated with a significant reduction in the number and complexity of the procedures performed [ 16 ].…”