Non-Lung Solid Organ Transplantation From SARS-CoV-2-Positive Donors to Uninfected Recipients.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of evidence on the risk of donor-recipient transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 in solid organ transplant recipients. Initial impressions suggest non-lung solid organs may be safely transplanted from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors without risk of viral transmission. METHODS: We reviewed clinical results of transplants in which SARS-CoV-2-negative recipients received non-lung solid organs from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors at a single transplant center. No prisoners were used in this study, and participants were neither coerced nor paid. The manuscript was created in compliance with the Helsinki Congress and the Declaration of Istanbul. RESULTS: Between June 2021 and January 2023, we transplanted 26 solid organs, including 13 kidneys, 8 livers, 3 hearts, and 1 simultaneous heart and kidney, from 23 SARS-CoV-2-positive donors into 25 SARS-CoV-2 negative recipients. Two of the recipients had a positive SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction after transplantation, but otherwise, patients had no SARS-CoV-2-related complications, and all patients to date are alive with excellent allograft function. CONCLUSION: Transplantation of non-lung solid organs from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors into uninfected recipients can be safely performed without adverse effects from SARS-CoV-2.

A syndrome of bilateral symmetrical basal ganglia lesions in diabetic dialysis patients.

A rare syndrome of acute symmetrical bilateral basal ganglia lesions in diabetic dialysis patients that manifests clinically with headache, dysarthria, and gait and movement disorder has been described almost exclusively in patients of Asian descent. The pathophysiology of this condition has not been established. Of the 28 cases reported, 3 patients have been from North America. In the context of magnetic resonance imaging showing dramatic resolution of lesions of the basal ganglia, this report describes a fourth case from North America of a 47-year-old Hispanic woman with diabetes on dialysis therapy who presented with headache, unsteady gait, and slurred speech. We also consider presymptomatic metabolic abnormalities in the pathogenesis of this disease.