Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2021 Apr 1;105(4):842-850.
doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000003609.

Is it Safe to Be Transplanted From Living Donors Who Recovered From COVID-19? Experience of 31 Kidney Transplants in a Multicenter Cohort Study From India

Vivek B Kute  1 , Suraj Godara  2 , Sandeep Guleria  3 , Deepak S Ray  4 , Feroz Aziz  5 , Umapati Hegde  6 , Ashish Sharma  7 , K S Nayak  8 , Vishwanath Siddini  9 , Piyali Sarkar  10 , Sharmila Thukral  5 , Rabi Ranjan Sow Mondal  5 , Jitendra Goswami  11 , Himanshu V Patel  1 , Abi Abraham M  12 , Vivek Pathak  13 , Urmila Anandh  14 , Pranaw Kumar Jha  15 , Suhas Bavikar  16 , Ravi Shankar Bonu  17 , Sanjeev Gulati  18 , Anil Kumar B T  19 , Dinesh Kumar Yadav  15
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Is it Safe to Be Transplanted From Living Donors Who Recovered From COVID-19? Experience of 31 Kidney Transplants in a Multicenter Cohort Study From India

Vivek B Kute et al. Transplantation. .

Abstract

Background: There is lack of data on feasibility and safety of kidney transplants from living donors who recovered from COVID-19.

Methods: Here, we present a retrospective cohort study of 31 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from living donors who recovered from polymerase chain reaction confirmed COVID-19 across 19 transplant centers in India from July 3, 2020, to December 5, 2020. We detailed demographics, clinical manifestations, immunosuppression regimen, treatment, and outcomes. Donors with a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 were accepted after documenting 2 negative polymerase chain reaction tests with complete symptom resolution for at least 28 days and significant social distancing for 14 days before surgery.

Results: COVID-19 clinical severity in donors ranged from completely asymptomatic (71%, n = 22) to mild infection (29%, n = 9). None progressed to moderate or severe stages of the disease in the entire clinical course of home treatment. Patient and graft survival was 100%, respectively, with acute cellular rejection being reported in 6.4% (n = 2) recipient. All recipients and donors were asymptomatic with normal creatinine at median follow-up of 44 days after surgery without any complications relating to surgery and COVID-19.

Conclusions: Our data support safety of proceeding with living donation for asymptomatic individuals with comprehensive donor, recipients screening before surgery, using a combination of clinical, radiologic, and laboratory criteria. It could provide new insights into the management of KTR from living donors who have recovered from COVID-19 in India. To the best of our knowledge, this remains the largest cohort of KTR from living donors who recovered from COVID-19.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no funding or conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.
Interval in d of donor COVID PCR positive to negative and from negative to transplant. COVID, coronavirus disease; PCR, polymerase chain reaction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/. Accessed December 1, 2020.
    1. Summary. Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation. Available at http://www.transplant-observatory.org/summary/. Accessed November 8, 2020.
    1. Kute V, Ramesh V, Shroff S, et al. . Deceased-donor organ transplantation in India: current status, challenges, and solution. Exp Clin Transplant. 2020;18(Suppl 2):31–42. - PubMed
    1. Kute V, Ramesh V, Shroff S, et al. . Benefit to few versus risk to many: an ethical dilemma during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic for deceased-donor organ transplant in a resource-limited developing country. Exp Clin Transplant. 2021;19:1–7. - PubMed
    1. Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Directorate General of Health Services (EMR Division). Clinical Management Protocol: COVID-19. Available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/ClinicalManagementProtocolforCOVID19.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2020.

Publication types

MeSH terms