The Impact Of Covid-19 On Pediatric Organ Donation And Transplantation
1Transplant Surgery, UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 2UPMC Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 3Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 4Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL
Meeting: 2022 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 9061
Keywords: COVID-19, Donation, Pediatric, Resource utilization
Topic: Basic & Clinical Science » Basic & Clinical Science » 73 - COVID-19
Session Information
Session Time: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Presentation Time: 7:00pm-8:00pm
Location: Hynes Halls C & D
*Purpose: The global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered delivery of healthcare. Hospital resource utilization has been impacted on multiple levels including solid organ transplantation and overall access to transplant care. In the United States, significant regional variation and decreased living donor transplantation occurred during the initial 6 months of the pandemic. We examined the multi-year impact of COVID-19 on pediatric organ donation and transplantation.
*Methods: Pediatric (<18 years of age) organ donation and transplant data was obtained from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). Data included pediatric donors after brain death (pDBD), donors after circulatory death (pDCD), living donors (LD), and recipient details including total number of transplants, waitlist deaths, and removals were reviewed between January 2019 to December 2021.
*Results: Total pediatric transplants performed in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were 1923, 1766, and 1890 (p=0.004) respectively. Organ specific data is outlined in Table 1. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, living donor transplantation accounted for 320, 288, and 311 (p=0.838) cases, while 1579, 1456, and 1552 (p=<0.0001) deceased donor allografts were utilized. There were 171, 176, and 209 pDCD and 746, 684, and 713 pediatric pDBD donors. Living donors across all recipient ages were 7391, 5725, and 6539. 2392, 2337, and 2430 pediatric patients were added to all organ waitlists during the study period. 2347, 2198, and 2288 children were removed from the waitlist with 93, 82, and 76 of those cases due to patient death. There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of pediatric patients added to the waitlist vs those removed during 2019-2021 (p=0.505)
*Conclusions: Transplant volume transiently decreased in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, transplantation rates in children, specifically abdominal organ transplantation, increased to nearly pre-pandemic levels in 2021. Lung transplants were significantly decreased during the study period. Pediatric donation remained relatively steady from 2019-2021. Living donor transplantation in children was significantly impacted in 2020. Waitlist additions/removals remained consistent throughout the study period.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Lee E, Zhang X, Mazariegos G, Nakagawa T. The Impact Of Covid-19 On Pediatric Organ Donation And Transplantation [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2022; 22 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-pediatric-organ-donation-and-transplantation/. Accessed May 28, 2025.« Back to 2022 American Transplant Congress