The kidney of a woman who died from COVID-19 was successfully transplanted into a patient by doctors from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. To make sure the kidney itself wasn't infected, they took a biopsy of the organ for the first time before the transplant. The doctors described the operation in an article in the American Journal of Transplantation.
During the pandemic, patients have already received kidneys from donors who died from complications of COVID-19, but in general, the number of transplants has decreased due to doctors' fears - although a deceased donor is checked for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the body before transplantation, the virus may hide in themselves kidney tissues. Therefore, the doctors decided to test them directly as well.
The kidney belonged to a 30-year-old woman who was hospitalized with COVID-19 in March 2021. The patient's condition deteriorated rapidly, and despite the efforts of the doctors, eventually, due to lack of oxygen, the brain was irreversibly damaged and the doctors pronounced him dead. The body continued to work only due to the life support system.
The recipient was a 55-year-old man who had been on dialysis for five years.
Three days before the transplant, doctors took a swab from the woman for SARS-CoV-2, which turned out to be negative. However, the virus could still remain in the tissues. To find out, the doctors performed a kidney biopsy - it was not infected. After transplantation, the patient was tested for COVID-19 after 20, 30 and 60 days - they were all negative.
A few months after the transplant, the kidneys functioned perfectly and the patient was able to refuse dialysis.
Doctors suggest not to get rid of the organs just because the donor was sick with COVID-19 - instead, it is worth checking whether the virus got into the organ itself. If this does not happen, the organ may well be used for transplantation. However, before this approach is widely adopted, it is worth doing more successful transplants.
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