Solid Organ Donation and Transplantation Activity in the Eurotransplant Area During the First Year of COVID-19

Exploring Preservation Modalities in a Split Human Pancreas Model to Investigate the Effect on the Islet Isolation Outcomes

Background

In islet transplantation, the use of dynamic hypothermic preservation techniques is a current challenge. This study compares the efficacy of 3 pancreas preservation methods: static cold storage, hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP), and oxygenated HMP.

Methods

A standardized human pancreas split model was employed using discarded organs from both donation after brain death (n = 15) and donation after circulatory death (DCD) (n = 9) donors. The pancreas head was preserved using static cold storage (control group), whereas the tail was preserved using the 3 different methods (study group). Data on donor characteristics, pancreas histology, isolation outcomes, and functional tests of isolated islets were collected.

Results

Insulin secretory function evaluated by calculating stimulation indices and total amount of secreted insulin during high glucose stimulation (area under the curve) through dynamic perifusion experiments was similar across all paired groups from both DCD and donation after brain death donors. In our hands, islet yield (IEQ/g) from the pancreas tails used as study groups was higher than that of the pancreas heads as expected although this difference did not always reach statistical significance because of great variability probably due to suboptimal quality of organs released for research purposes. Moreover, islets from DCD organs had greater purity than controls (P ≤ 0.01) in the HMP study group. Furthermore, our investigation revealed no significant differences in pancreas histology, oxidative stress markers, and apoptosis indicators.

Conclusions

For the first time, a comparative analysis was conducted, using a split model, to assess the effects of various preservation methods on islets derived from pancreas donors. Nevertheless, no discernible variances were observed in terms of islet functionality, histological attributes, or isolation efficacy. Further investigations are needed to validate these findings for clinical application.

Post-COVID-19 pandemic organ donation activities in Germany: a multicenter retrospective analysis

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the number of solid organ transplantations. After a global decline of 16% in 2020, their numbers subsequently returned to pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, numbers in Germany remained almost constant in 2020 and 2021 but fell by 6.9% in 2022. The reasons for this divergent development are unknown.

Methods

The number of deceased with a severe brain damage, potential and utilized donors after braindeath and the intensive care unit treatment capacity were retrospectively compared for the years 2022 and 2021 at five university hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Reasons for a donation not utilized were reviewed. To enable a comparison of the results with the whole of Germany and the pre-pandemic period, numbers of potential and utilized donors were extracted from official organ donation activity reports of all harvesting hospitals in Germany for the years 2019-2022.

Results

The numbers of deceased with a severe brain damage (-10%), potential (-9%), and utilized donors after braindeath (-44%), and intensive care unit treatment capacities (-7.2%) were significantly lower in 2022 than 2021. A COVID-19 infection was a rarer (-79%), but donor instability (+44%) a more frequent reason against donation in 2022, whereas preserved brain stem reflexes remained the most frequent reason in both years (54%). Overall numbers of potential and utilized donations in Germany were lower in 2022 than in the pre-pandemic period, but this was mainly due to lower numbers in hospitals of lower care. The number of potential donors in all university hospitals were higher in 2022 but utilized donations still lower than in 2019.

Conclusion

The decrease in potential and utilized donations was a result of reduced intensive care unit treatment capacities and a lower conversion rate at the five university hospitals. A COVID-19 infection did not play a role in 2022. These results indicate that ICU treatment capacities must be restored to increase donations. The lower number of potential donors and the even lower conversion rate in 2022 throughout Germany show that restructuring the organ procurement process in Germany needs to be discussed to increase the number of donations.

Deceased donor kidney transplant policies in Asia - implications on practice and recommendations for the future

Deceased donor kidney transplantation (DDKT) is common in high income Western countries with high transplantation rates. However, the utilization of deceased organs is suboptimal in Asia, due to a multitude of factors. Coherent policies are integral to the development of DDKT programs and deterrence of commercialization, but most are still at an infancy and formative stage in Asia. This review article identifies the glass ceiling effects of social, cultural, religious, political, and technical factors hampering the progress of DDKT in Asia. Additionally, it reviews the history of policy development in different countries and describes their idiosyncratic barriers and challenges. Lastly, it discusses innovative policy measures that can be undertaken to proliferate DDKT practice and curtail commercialization. The long-term ideal is to achieve regional equity and self-sufficiency, through a shared ethos of social and ethical responsibility that transcends and resonates with the different segments of the Asian community.

COVID-19-associated liver injury: Adding fuel to the flame

COVID-19 is mainly characterized by respiratory disorders and progresses to multiple organ involvement in severe cases. With expansion of COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 research, correlative liver injury has been revealed. It is speculated that COVID-19 patients exhibited abnormal liver function, as previously observed in the SARS and MERS pandemics. Furthermore, patients with underlying diseases such as chronic liver disease are more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 and indicate a poor prognosis accompanied by respiratory symptoms, systemic inflammation, or metabolic diseases. Therefore, COVID-19 has the potential to impair liver function, while individuals with preexisting liver disease suffer from much worse infected conditions. COVID-19 related liver injury may be owing to direct cytopathic effect, immune dysfunction, gut-liver axis interaction, and inappropriate medication use. However, discussions on these issues are infancy. Expanding research have revealed that angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression mediated the combination of virus and target cells, iron metabolism participated in the virus life cycle and the fate of target cells, and amino acid metabolism regulated immune response in the host cells, which are all closely related to liver health. Further exploration holds great significance in elucidating the pathogenesis, facilitating drug development, and advancing clinical treatment of COVID-19-related liver injury. This article provides a review of the clinical and laboratory hepatic characteristics in COVID-19 patients, describes the etiology and impact of liver injury, and discusses potential pathophysiological mechanisms.

The toll of COVID-19 on organ donation and kidney transplantation in Europe: Do legislative defaults matter?

This study investigates the cascading effects of COVID-19 pandemic on organ donation and transplantation in Europe. We also check whether legislative defaults for organ donation have a role in these outcomes. For this purpose, we used data from 32 European countries, between 2010 and 2021, and estimated pooled OLS regressions. We find that COVID-19 pandemic reduced deceased organ donation rates by 23.4%, deceased kidney transplantation rates by 27.9% and live kidney transplantation rates by 31.1% after accounting for health system capacity indicators. While our study finds that presumed consent legislation under normal circumstances leads to notable benefits in terms of deceased kidney transplantation and organ donation rates, the legislative defaults did not have a significant impact during the pandemic. Additionally, our findings indicate a trade-off between living and deceased transplantation that is influenced by the legislative default.

Immunized Patients Face Reduced Access to Transplantation in the Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System

BACKGROUND

The presence of donor-specific HLA antibodies before transplantation is associated with poor transplantation outcomes. Unacceptable antigens can be assigned for Eurotransplant kidney transplant candidates to prevent kidney offers against which the candidate has developed clinically relevant HLA antibodies. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess to what degree unacceptable antigens affect access to transplantation in the Eurotransplant Kidney Allocation System (ETKAS).

METHODS

Candidates who underwent kidney-only transplantation between 2016 and 2020 were included (n = 19 240). Cox regression was used to quantify the relationship between the relative transplantation rate and virtual panel-reactive antibodies (vPRAs), which is the percentage of the donor pool with unacceptable antigens. Models used accrued dialysis time as the timescale; were stratified by country and blood group of patient and were adjusted for nontransplantable status, patient age, sex, history of kidney transplantations, and prevalence of 0 HLA-DR-mismatched donors.

RESULTS

Transplantation rates were 23% lower for vPRA 0.1% to 50%, 51% lower for vPRA 75% to 85%, and decreased rapidly for vPRA of >85%. Prior studies showed significantly lower ETKAS transplantation rates only for highly sensitized patients (vPRA of >85%). The inverse relationship between transplantation rate and vPRA is independent of Eurotransplant country, listing time, and 0 HLA-DR-mismatched donor availability. Results were similar when quantifying the relationship between vPRA and attainment of a sufficiently high rank for an ETKAS offer, suggesting lower transplantation rates for immunized patients are due to current ETKAS allocation.

CONCLUSIONS

Immunized patients face lower transplantation rates across Eurotransplant. The current ETKAS allocation mechanism inadequately compensates immunized patients for reduced access to transplantation.

Transplant of organs from donors with positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing: A report from the organ procurement and transplantation network ad hoc disease transmission advisory committee

BACKGROUND

Decisions to transplant organs from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid test-positive (NAT+) donors must balance risk of donor-derived transmission events (DDTE) with the scarcity of available organs.

METHODS

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data were used to compare organ utilization and recipient outcomes between SARS-CoV-2 NAT+ and NAT- donors. NAT+ was defined by either a positive upper or lower respiratory tract (LRT) sample within 21 days of procurement. Potential DDTE were adjudicated by OPTN Disease Transmission Advisory Committee.

RESULTS

From May 27, 2021 (date of OTPN policy for required LRT testing of lung donors) to January 31, 2022, organs were recovered from 617 NAT+ donors from all OPTN regions and 53 of 57 (93%) organ procurement organizations. NAT+ donors were younger and had higher organ quality scores for kidney and liver. Organ utilization was lower for NAT+ donors compared to NAT- donors. A total of 1241 organs (776 kidneys, 316 livers, 106 hearts, 22 lungs, and 21 other) were transplanted from 514 NAT+ donors compared to 21 946 organs from 8853 NAT- donors. Medical urgency was lower for recipients of NAT+ liver and heart transplants. The median waitlist time was longer for liver recipients of NAT+ donors. The match run sequence number for final acceptor was higher for NAT+ donors for all organ types. Outcomes for hospital length of stay, 30-day mortality, and 30-day graft loss were similar for all organ types. No SARS-CoV-2 DDTE occurred in this interval.

CONCLUSIONS

Transplantation of SARS-CoV-2 NAT+ donor organs appears safe for short-term outcomes of death and graft loss and ameliorates the organ shortage. Further study is required to assure comparable longer term outcomes.

Organ Procurement, Donation, and Transplant Awareness in an Urban Eastern European Region: A General Population Survey

BACKGROUND Despite significant improvements in Romania's transplantation system, actual donor numbers have paradoxically fallen, contrary to the European trend. With a donation rate of 3.44 donors per million inhabitants, Romania ranks near the bottom of European countries. This study aimed to identify several predictors of a positive attitude toward organ donation in the Romanian population that could aid in reshaping public policies to improve donation and transplantation rates. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included a representative Iasi population. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire focused on revealing attitudes toward organ donation, importance of consent, willingness to donate a family member's organs, and role of medical staff in the donation decision. A perception score was calculated as a methodological approach to validate attitudes toward organ donation. RESULTS Of all respondents, 55% agreed to donate their organs if declared brain-dead, while 20% opposed this idea; 72.7% considered consent necessary; 70% believed that consent must belong to the family when it comes to brain-dead organ donors; and 44.5% supported the idea of financial compensation. Higher monthly income was correlated with a positive attitude toward organ donation. CONCLUSIONS Even though the study population had a positive attitude toward organ donation, the willingness to donate was lower than in other European countries and did not translate into actual donations. The necessity of informed consent, lack of knowledge on the topic, bureaucratic aspects, and openness to financial compensation could explain the current situation of the Romanian transplantation system.

Clinical and Surgical Challenges in Kidney Transplantation: Toward a Personalized Approach?

The continuously evolving practice of solid organ transplantation (SOT) in general and kidney transplantation (KT) in particular embodies the complexity of a composite, multi-step healthcare service [...]