Korean J Transplant.  2022 Nov;36(Supple 1):S293. 10.4285/ATW2022.F-4322.

Back on track: outcomes of deceased donor kidney recipients at national kidney and transplant institute during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Liquete MM
• Duque A

• KMID: 2535520
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2022.F-4322

Abstract

Background
Despite the decreased referrals and strict protocols, the primary transplant center in the Philippines, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), has been accepting deceased donor referrals to keep up with the ever-growing shortage of the country's donor pool. NKTI has received various challenges during retrievals such as shortage of Kidney Perfusion Solu-tion (KPS-1) for the LifePort Kidney Transporter (LifePort) and delayed referrals due to strict COVID-19 restrictions. The study aims to describe the outcomes of the country's deceased organ retrieval since the pandemic.
Methods
This is a retrospective descriptive study. Data are gathered from NKTI and the Human Organ Preservation Effort.
Results
Since 2020, NKTI was able to do 16 cadaveric kidney retrievals. Eight donors were stable enough to have the retrieval done at NKTI while the other eight were retrieved at the referring institutions. Five of those donors were hypotensive, eventually leading to cardiac arrest, necessitating the need for immediate harvest. Donor ages range from 17 to 47 years old. Only one patient underwent preemptive kidney transplantation. From the retrieved kidneys, 10 were placed on LifePort. Of these kidneys, seven had immediate graft function, while three had delayed graft function. One of the recipients expired due to septic shock secondary to non-COVID-19 pneumonia. Nineteen kidneys were placed on cold storage with two having allograft nephrectomies within the same month of transplant due to graft intolerance syndrome. The institute also had its first dual kidney transplant, having one recipient receive two kidneys from a single donor due to having 50% glomerulosclerosis on biopsies done on the donor kidney. The recipient had immediate graft function. Two kidneys were retrieved simultaneously with the recipients, having similar cold ischemia times, due to absence of the institutes’ LifePort. None of the recipients contracted COVID-19 during their admis-sion.
Conclusions
Deceased organ donation still remains a viable option for recipients without living donors, even during the pandemic.