First successful lung transplantation from ex-corona patient | Abroad

The procedure proves that well-selected lungs can still be used for organ donation even after a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and that those lungs can also be safely transplanted, Het Nieuwsblad writes.

And that is good news, according to the transplant surgeons. Because of the pandemic, many potential organ donors will have an infection in the future. Transplant doctors will always monitor the risk of transferring the virus from the organ donor to the organ recipient.

To donate

An organ donor is always screened for SARS-CoV-2 upon death and the result must be negative before he can donate organs for a transplant. Still, a negative test does not rule out that residues of the virus may still be hiding deep in the lungs.

These virus residues can possibly trigger a new infection in the recipient after a transplant. Such an infection can be very dangerous, because after the transplant a patient is given medication to suppress the immune system and is therefore more susceptible to infections.

Pneumonia

The doctors will examine whether the lungs have been irreversibly damaged after the corona infection. “We do expect a significant impact of the coronavirus on lung health, so we need to check the damage carefully. We cannot use lungs from a donor who had severe pneumonia and therefore has many scars on the lungs, ”says Professor Laurens Ceulemans, lung transplant surgeon at UZ Leuven.

In the latter case, the surgeons, pulmonologists and virologists involved decided that the risk to the recipient of these lungs was minimal. Staying on the transplant waiting list any longer would pose a much greater risk.

“The transplant went smoothly and the lung recipient tested negative for the coronavirus afterwards. There were no complications and after a month the patient was able to leave the hospital in good health ”, says Ceulemans.

“Three months after the operation, the patient is doing excellent: the lung function is excellent and the CT scan shows no lung abnormalities.”

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