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
Case Reports
. 2021 May;53(4):1138-1142.
doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.01.025. Epub 2021 Jan 14.

Is Kidney Transplantation From a COVID-19-Positive Deceased Donor Safe for the Recipient?

D V Perlin  1 , I N Dymkov  2 , A V Terentiev  2 , A V Perlina  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Is Kidney Transplantation From a COVID-19-Positive Deceased Donor Safe for the Recipient?

D V Perlin et al. Transplant Proc. 2021 May.

Abstract

Introduction: In recent months, the number of kidney transplants from deceased donors has declined significantly. One of the reasons is the possibility of infection of the recipient with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Determining the risk of transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a donor organ is very important for developing a kidney transplantation policy during a pandemic.

Materials and method: We present cases of kidney transplantation from COVID-19-positive deceased donors to 2 dialysis patients 49 and 45 years old. One of them was on hemodialysis for 28 months; the other received continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Both patients received only basic immunosuppression, including tacrolimus, methylprednisolone, and mycophenolic acid. No antilymphocyte agents were used for induction therapy.

Results: Cold ischemia time was 22 and 21 hours, respectively. One recipient had delayed graft function with increasing of urine output on day 8; another had immediate function. Both patients had no febrile and no other symptoms of acute respiratory disease during their hospital stay. No abnormalities on the chest x-ray were seen. No serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG were detected before and during 6 weeks after surgery. Repeated nasopharyngeal swabs real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) were negative during the period. Both recipients were discharged 5 weeks after surgery with serum creatinine levels of 122 and 91 mcmol/L, respectively.

Conclusion: Today we have no evidence of the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 from a SARS-CoV-2 positive donor to a kidney recipient. We also have no reason to suspect kidney damage by COVID-19 in a deceased donor at normal serum creatinine level.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Timeline of the course of perioperative period with some basic biochemical and immunological parameters in patient 1 (A) and patient 2 (B). DDKT, deceased living donor kidney transplant; rRT-PCR, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bellini M.I., Tortorici F., Capogni M. Kidney transplantation and the lockdown effect. Transplant Int. 2020;33:1142–1143. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shingare A., Bahadur M.M., Raina S. COVID-19 in recent kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant. 2020;20:3206–3209. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gandolfini I., Delsante M., Fiaccadori E., Zaza G., Manenti L., Antoni A.D., et al. COVID-19 in kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant. 2020;20:1941–1943. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Michaels M.G., La Hoz R.M., Danziger-Isakov L., Blumberg E.A., Kumar D., Green M., et al. Coronavirus disease 2019: implications of emerging infections for transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2020;20:1768–1772. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Banerjee D., Popoola J., Shah S., Ster I.C., Quan V., Phanish M. COVID-19 infection in kidney transplant recipients. Kidney Int. 2020;97:1076–1082. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms