Researchers have discovered that the number of solid organ transplants dropped dramatically between 2019 and 2020 in the world, which highlights the wide-ranging impact of the Covid-19 pandemic upon health services and patients.
Hospitals were forced to delay potentially lifesaving organ transplant surgery due to the pandemic. They had to do so because they did not have enough resources.
A July report by NHS Blood and Transplant revealed that transplant activity in 2020-21 was at around 80% of its normal level. There were 3,391 UK transplants compared to 4,761 the previous twelve months. The service reported that 487 patients died waiting for a donor, compared to 372 deaths in 2019-20. It also estimated that approximately 7,000 people are likely to be waiting in the UK for a donor. This figure was last seen in 2012-13.
A new international study has shown that the number of human organ transplants, including liver, kidney, lung and heart, from donors who are not human, fell by 31% in the first wave of Covid-19. It was published in Lancet Public Health, and presented at Esot congress 2021. With more than 11,200 less transplants performed, the overall decline was nearly 16% by 2020.
The team reported that there was a significant decrease in transplant activity worldwide during the first three months following the pandemic. Losses stabilized after June 2020 but decreased again between October and December 2020.
The study examined the number of transplants performed in each country between the beginning of 2020 and the end of 2021. It started at the time 100 Covid cases had been confirmed. These numbers were then compared to those from the previous year.
The results revealed that the effects of the pandemic were different across countries. While there was a 9.86% drop in organ transplants in Canada, which corresponded to 227 fewer, there was a 66.71% decrease in transplants in Japan, where 1,413 fewer were performed.
The most affected were kidney transplants, which saw a 19.14% drop when all 22 countries were combined, corresponding to 8,560 less transplants.
This was likely due to the fact that this surgery is not life-saving and it could be postponed.
Also, the data suggests that living transplants experienced a greater decline than those from deceased donors. The researchers also noted additional logistical and ethical challenges as well as concerns about exposing living donors in hospitals to Covid. They also noted that liver and kidney transplantation from living donors was stopped in some areas.
Researchers found that although some countries saw a significant drop in transplants, others didn't, even though they were hard hit by Covid. Further analysis of the data is needed at the regional, national, and global levels to determine why.
