Evaluation of organ donation process and affecting factors in COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives: More than six million people worldwide are affected by end-stage organ failure and the COVID- 19 pandemic has dramatically changed organ and tissue donation. Methods: The data of patients diagnosed with brain death between July 2018-March 2020 (pre-pandemic period) and April 2020-December 2021 (pandemic period) were analyzed retrospectively. Donor characteristics, laboratory levels, time from intensive care admission to determination of brain death, time to family approval, family approval rates and organ types were analyzed. Results: The mean age of 56 patients with pre-pandemic diagnosis of brain death was 61.82 ± 21.39 years, 37 (63%) patients were donors and 53 organs were obtained. Mean age of 39 patients diagnosed with brain death during the pandemic was 58.26 ± 18.02 years and 38 organs were obtained from 21 (52.5%) donors. Between the two periods, there was a decrease of 30.35% in the diagnosis of brain death, 43.24% in the number of donors and 26.41% in the number of organs supplied. The most common cause of brain death was intracranial hemorrhage during both periods. While the time elapsed between family interview and surgery was 9.33 ± 2.19 hours before the pandemic, it was 15.29 ± 4.28 hours during the pandemic period (p = 0.01). There was a significant difference between C-reactive protein levels at the time of diagnosis of brain death (p < 0.05). Staphylococcus haemolyticus was most frequently seen in blood culture. Conclusions: Brain death and organ donation have decreased significantly during the pandemic period compared to previous years, similar to research conducted in different countries and regions. Due to COVID- 19, prolonged stays in the intensive care unit (ICU) may pose a risk of infection in ICU donors, and care should be taken in terms of donor loss. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of European Research Journal is the property of Prusa Medical Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

A Current View of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Policies Amongst Pediatric Renal Transplant Centers and Relationships to State Policy.

Given its mortality benefit, renal transplantation remains the ideal treatment modality for end stage renal disease in children. Despite the recent expansion of use in young children, the novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has not been universally accepted. Similarly, vaccine related state regulations are heterogenous. We present a cross-sectional analysis of institutional specific vaccination policies at US pediatric renal transplant centers and relationships to state legislation. We found that 36.1% of institutions require COVID-19 vaccination prior to transplant, while 17 states have current legislation prohibiting proof of vaccination as a means of access to public services. Of the 63.9% of transplant centers without immunization requirement, almost two-thirds are located in states without prohibitory regulations. Despite an unclear primary influence of institutional policy, our study demonstrates a lack of standardization and potential to create unnecessary inequities.

Acute Bilateral Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Graft Rejection After the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine.

Purpose: We report a case of acute bilateral Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) rejection two weeks following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech), reflecting on possible changes to the management of patients with DMEK scheduled for COVID-19 vaccination. Patients and Methods: A 94-year-old woman with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy who underwent DMEK 24 months earlier (right eye) and 20 months earlier (left eye) demonstrated bilateral graft rejection two weeks after the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Standard treatment regimen was followed, and clinical status documented with slit-lamp examination and swept-source optical coherence tomography throughout. Results: Preoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and corneal thickness (CT) were 0.3 and 679µm right eye and 0.2 and 668µm left eye. Postoperative BCVA and CT were 0.7 and 559µm right eye and 0.4 and 590µm left eye. Standard treatment regimen consisted of dexamethasone/tobramycin and ketorolac, four times daily. At one month, both preparations were discontinued, replaced by dexamethasone 0.1% four times daily. At three months, this was tapered to once daily. Post-rejection, BCVA and CT were 0.2 and 710µm right eye and 0.3 and 710µm left eye. Treatment was with dexamethasone/tobramycin six times daily. Poor response resulted in re-DMEK transplantation, starting in the left eye. At one-month follow-up, BCVA and CT were 0.5 and 538µm right eye and 0.63 and 504µm left eye. Conclusion: We report the first acute bilateral DMEK graft rejection after a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We recommend clinicians exercise vigilance and consider dexamethasone 0.1% during the vaccination period.

Transplantation Without Overimmunosuppression (TWO) study protocol: a phase 2b randomised controlled single-centre trial of regulatory T cell therapy to facilitate immunosuppression reduction in living donor kidney transplant recipients.

INTRODUCTION: Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy has been demonstrated to facilitate long-term allograft survival in preclinical models of transplantation and may permit reduction of immunosuppression and its associated complications in the clinical setting. Phase 1 clinical trials have shown Treg therapy to be safe and feasible in clinical practice. Here we describe a protocol for the TWO study, a phase 2b randomised control trial of Treg therapy in living donor kidney transplant recipients that will confirm safety and explore efficacy of this novel treatment strategy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 60 patients will be randomised on a 1:1 basis to Treg therapy (TR001) or standard clinical care (control). Patients in the TR001 arm will receive an infusion of autologous polyclonal ex vivo expanded Tregs 5 days after transplantation instead of standard monoclonal antibody induction. Maintenance immunosuppression will be reduced over the course of the post-transplant period to low-dose tacrolimus monotherapy. Control participants will receive a standard basiliximab-based immunosuppression regimen with long-term tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil immunosuppression. The primary endpoint is biopsy proven acute rejection over 18 months; secondary endpoints include immunosuppression burden, chronic graft dysfunction and drug-related complications. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been provided by the National Health Service Health Research Authority South Central-Oxford A Research Ethics Committee (reference 18/SC/0054). The study also received authorisation from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is being run in accordance with the principles of Good Clinical Practice, in collaboration with the registered trials unit Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit. Results from the TWO study will be published in peer-reviewed scientific/medical journals and presented at scientific/clinical symposia and congresses. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN: 11038572; Pre-results.

Protocol for a prospective double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled feasibility trial of octreotide infusion during liver transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Liver transplantation is a complex operation that can provide significant improvements in quality of life and survival to the recipients. However, serious complications are common and include major haemorrhage, hypotension and renal failure. Blood transfusion and the development of acute kidney injury lead to both short-term and long-term poor patient outcomes, including an increased risk of death, graft failure, length of stay and reduced quality of life. Octreotide may reduce the incidence of renal dysfunction, perioperative haemorrhage and enhance intraoperative blood pressure. However, octreotide does have risks, including resistant bradycardia, hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia and QT prolongation. Hence, a randomised controlled trial of octreotide during liver transplantation is needed to determine the cost-efficacy and safety of its use; this study represents a feasibility study prior to this trial. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We describe a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled feasibility study of continuous infusion of octreotide during liver transplantation surgery. We will recruit 30 adult patients at two liver transplant centres. A blinded infusion during surgery will be administered in a 2:1 ratio of octreotide:placebo. The primary outcomes will determine the feasibility of this study design. These include the recruitment ratio, correct administration of blinded study intervention, adverse event rates, patient and clinician enrolment refusal and completion of data collection. Secondary outcome measures of efficacy and safety will help shape future trials by assessing potential primary outcome measures and monitoring safety end points. No formal statistical tests are planned. This manuscript represents study protocol number 1.3, dated 2 June 2021. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has received Research Ethics Committee approval. The main study outcomes will be submitted to an open-access journal. TRIAL SPONSOR: The Joint Research Office, University College London, UK.Neither the sponsor nor the funder have any role in study design, collection, management, analysis and interpretation of data, writing of the study report or the decision to submit the report for publication. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04941911) with recruitment due to start in August 2021 with anticipated completion in July 2022. CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT: Surgical and Interventional Group, Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, University College London.

Medical Students and Patients Benefit from Virtual Non-Medical Interactions Due to COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Patient care restrictions created by the COVID-19 pandemic constrained medical students' ability to interact directly with patients. Additionally, organ transplant recipients faced increasing isolation due to the rise of telemedicine, the importance of social distancing and their immunosuppressed state. We created a pilot program to pair students with transplant patients for structured, virtual encounters and studied its impact on medical students and patients. METHODS: In May 2020, medical students conducted virtual visits with patients via telephone or video conferencing. Patients and students were surveyed regarding their experiences and independent focus groups were conducted. The survey responses and focus group discussions were deidentified, transcribed, and analyzed for themes. RESULTS: Ten participating students were in their first, second, or final year of medical school. The 14 patients were liver or kidney transplant recipients or kidney donors. All interactions lasted longer than 30 minutes, with 56% greater than 1 hour. Three themes emerged related to the student experience: improvement of their clinical communication skills, development of knowledge and attitudes related to organ transplantation and donation, and independent management of a patient encounter. Three themes related to the patient experience: appreciation of the opportunity to share their personal patient experience to help educate future physicians, a cathartic and personally illuminating experience and an opportunity to share the message of donation. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot program provided a novel opportunity for virtual student-patient interactions that was feasible, well-received, and mutually beneficial. The use of virtual non-medical patient experiences allowed for experiential learning during which students learned about both clinical medicine and enhanced their communication skills directly from patients. Additionally, patients were able to engage with medical students in a new way, as teachers of clinical interactions, and reported a high level of satisfaction in addition to deriving personal benefit.

Origin, transmission, diagnosis and management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Coronavirus has emerged as a global health threat due to its accelerated geographic spread over the last two decades. This article reviews the current state of knowledge concerning the origin, transmission, diagnosis and management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Historically, it has caused two pandemics: severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome followed by the present COVID-19 that emerged from China. The virus is believed to be acquired from zoonotic source and spreads through direct and contact transmission. The symptomatic phase manifests with fever, cough and myalgia to severe respiratory failure. The diagnosis is confirmed using reverse transcriptase PCR. Management of COVID-19 is mainly by supportive therapy along with mechanical ventilation in severe cases. Preventive strategies form the major role in reducing the public spread of virus along with successful disease isolation and community containment. Development of a vaccine to eliminate the virus from the host still remains an ongoing challenge.