Two months after receiving COVID-infected lungs, transplant patient dies

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A double-lung transplant patient from Michigan died two months after contracting the virus from her donor.
• The lung recipient experienced COVID-19 symptoms days after the surgery. Her condition got worse over time before eventually passing away.
• Healthcare workers handling lung-transplant surgeries are urged to perform COVID-19 testing on all donors and recipients and wear protective equipment.

After receiving a double-lung transplant from a donor with COVID-19 infected lungs, a Michigan woman died two months later. The initial COVID-testing, however, noted that the donor was negative.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded eight potential COVID-19 contractions between donors and recipients. It pointed, however, that “findings suggest the most likely source of transmission was community or healthcare exposure.”

According to Michigan doctors, the virus came from a woman who died after suffering a serious brain injury in a fatal car crash. A COVID-19 test was made within 24 hours of acquiring the lungs, which had not yet shown infection then. The woman had no recent travel history or COVID-19 symptoms, but follow-up testing proved that she had coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, the transplant recipient, who had chronic obstructive lung disease, also came up negative on the COVID test 12 hours prior to surgery.

“We would absolutely not have used the lungs if we’d had a positive Covid test,” Michigan Medicine Transplant Infectious Disease Service director and lead author Dr. Daniel Kaul told NBC News.

The lung recipient experienced fever and low blood pressure after three days, with images showing that the lungs posted signs of infection.

As the symptoms became more visible, the recipient developed septic shock, which urged doctors to conduct COVID testing again. The results came up positive this time.

The recipient’s condition worsened over time. She suffered multi-system organ failure and needed a ventilator to survive. She passed away two months after her transplant operation.

Before the day of her death, COVID testing showed that she still had the virus.

The thoracic surgeon, who performed the lung transplant contracted the virus four days after the operation. Among the operation team, the surgeon was the only one who showed symptoms and eventually got recovered.

Officials from the University of Michigan Medical School described the case as a “proven transmission” from a donor to the recipient, based on a recent report published in the American Journal of Transplantation early this month. The case is believed to be the first in the US.

The report authors have called for transplant centers and organ procurement associations to conduct COVID testing for all lung donors amid the rare cases of infection transmission among lung recipients.

The authors also recommended healthcare staff working in lung transplant surgeries wear N95 masks and eye protection at all times.

Health officials have urged patients not to be afraid of getting a lung transplant despite the confirmed incident.

Source: PEOPLE.com