The study showed that the hearts of covid-positive donors are safe for transplantation. Therefore, the presence of COVID-19 in the body of a donor is not an obstacle to the retrieval of his organs.
If a patient has brain death as a result of irreversible changes, then it can no longer be brought back to life, but the organs in his body can give life to many people. But until recently, such organs were not taken from the body of people who had COVID-19 at the time of death. And now, researchers from New York University have proven that donor hearts from people who test positive for coronavirus are just as safe for transplantation as the hearts of those who do not have this infection.
Medical scientists ready to transplant pig hearts into humans
This study is based on the results of transplants of 84 hearts from donors who tested positive for coronavirus. The health of the recipients was carefully monitored by scientists. The median hospital stay for those who received a donor heart from a covid-positive patient was 15 days, and for those who received those hearts from patients without a respiratory infection, it was 17 days, two days longer.
The duration of the incubation period for the majority of those infected with covid has been named
The study shows that scientists and doctors may be more aggressive about using coronavirus-positive donors if other patients are in need of a heart transplant. Moreover, the pandemic has greatly exacerbated the situation due to an increase in the number of potential donors infected with the coronavirus. Patients waiting for organ transplants were often short of donors even before the pandemic, and the disease has made even more of a difference. (READ MORE)
Important! Information provided for reference purposes. Ask a specialist about contraindications and side effects and under no circumstances self-medicate. Seek medical attention at the first sign of illness.
NYU
Medicine
a US private research university located in New York, one of the most famous and prestigious institutions of higher education in the world