The epidemic led to a significant slowdown in organ transplantation

This is another collateral damage from the Kovid-19 pandemic to other patients, and not the least. Organ transplant activity fell by almost 16% in 2020 (and even 31% during the first wave), resulting in the loss of 48,000 years of life, according to a study conducted in 22 countries, published in the August 31 review The Lancet Public Health. The results of this international work, coordinated by Professor Alexander Loopy (Center for Nephrologist, Center for Transplantation for Transplantation, Paris, INSERM), were jointly presented at the European Society of Transplantation in Milan (Italy).

The most supervised field of super medicine, the exchange is characterized by their high technology and the large staff chain they assemble from removing to grafting. To assess the impact of the epidemic on this peak activity, researchers compared the number of organ transplants (kidneys, liver, heart and lungs) in 2020 last year, 2019, in 22 countries: 16 in Europe, 2 in North America (Canada and the United States), and 3 in South America ( Argentina, Brazil and Chile), and Japan. Overall, in these countries, which represent 62% of global exchange activity, the number of exchanges decreased by 16% by 2020 (11,253 – compared to 2019), although it generally increased from year to year, from 5% to 10%. “Conversion activity has fallen sharply, especially in the first wave, but they have not yet returned to normal and will undoubtedly take many years,” he said. Underline Professor Loopy.

Postpartum renal transplantation due to dialysis (- 19.1%), as well as lungs and liver were affected to a lesser extent (15.5% and – 10, 5%, respectively). Heart transplantation, considered in emergencies, recorded a small decrease (- 5.5%). For patients awaiting organ transplantation, the consequences of cessation of activity were significant, with nearly 48,239 years of life lost in these 22 countries, including 37,664 in kidney patients.

29% lower exchange in France

The authors also note large inequalities between countries, which they classify into three categories: Although the number of deaths due to Kovid is low (Argentina, Japan and Chile) exchange activity is well down. Although most affected by Kovid (the majority of countries, including France, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and, finally, the epidemic (United States, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia and Belgium), exchange activity declined significantly. Thus, in the United States, the country with the highest number of converts in the world, the impact of the crisis is minimal (- 4.1% in 2020). In France, transplant activity experienced significant drops (-90%) in the first weeks of infection, even in areas where the SARS-CoV-2 virus was initially low. Measures were then taken, and a reduction of 29% (total – 1,410 measures) in 2020, a reduction of more than a third for kidney transplantation.

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