TY - JOUR
T1 - Heart transplantation in the era of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
T2 - Is it safe and feasible?
AU - Esmailian, Gabriel
AU - Kobashigawa, Jon A.
AU - Nishihara, Keith
AU - Patel, Jignesh K.
AU - Czer, Lawrence
AU - Megna, Dominick
AU - Emerson, Dominic
AU - Ramzy, Danny
AU - Trento, Alfredo
AU - Chikwe, Joanna
AU - Esmailian, Fardad
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - As the SARS-CoV-2–pandemic continues to unfold, the number of heart transplants completed in the United States has been declining steadily. The current case series examines the immediate short-term outcomes of seven heart transplant recipients transplanted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We hope to illustrate that with proper preparation, planning, and testing, heart transplantation can be continued during a pandemic. We assessed 7 patients transplanted from March 4, 2020, to April 15, 2020. The following endpoints were noted: in-hospital survival, in-hospital freedom from rejection, in-hospital nonfatal major cardiac adverse events (NF-MACE), severe primary graft dysfunction, hospital length of stay, and ICU length of stay. There were no expirations throughout the hospital admission. In addition, there were no patients with NF-MACE or treated rejection, and 1 patient developed severe primary graft dysfunction. Average length of stay was 17.2 days with a standard deviation of 5.9 days. ICU length of stay was 7.7 days with a standard deviation of 2.3 days. Despite the decreasing trend in completed heart transplants due to SARS-CoV-2, heart transplantation appears to be feasible in the immediate short term. Further follow-up is needed, however, to assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on post–heart transplant outcomes months after transplantation.
AB - As the SARS-CoV-2–pandemic continues to unfold, the number of heart transplants completed in the United States has been declining steadily. The current case series examines the immediate short-term outcomes of seven heart transplant recipients transplanted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We hope to illustrate that with proper preparation, planning, and testing, heart transplantation can be continued during a pandemic. We assessed 7 patients transplanted from March 4, 2020, to April 15, 2020. The following endpoints were noted: in-hospital survival, in-hospital freedom from rejection, in-hospital nonfatal major cardiac adverse events (NF-MACE), severe primary graft dysfunction, hospital length of stay, and ICU length of stay. There were no expirations throughout the hospital admission. In addition, there were no patients with NF-MACE or treated rejection, and 1 patient developed severe primary graft dysfunction. Average length of stay was 17.2 days with a standard deviation of 5.9 days. ICU length of stay was 7.7 days with a standard deviation of 2.3 days. Despite the decreasing trend in completed heart transplants due to SARS-CoV-2, heart transplantation appears to be feasible in the immediate short term. Further follow-up is needed, however, to assess the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on post–heart transplant outcomes months after transplantation.
KW - COVID-19
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - donors and donation
KW - heart transplantation
KW - infection and infectious agents
KW - pandemic
KW - patient survival
KW - viral
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088378422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ctr.14029
DO - 10.1111/ctr.14029
M3 - Article
C2 - 32633819
AN - SCOPUS:85088378422
SN - 0902-0063
VL - 34
JO - Clinical Transplantation
JF - Clinical Transplantation
IS - 10
M1 - e14029
ER -