Evaluation of the Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Distribution of Kidney Transplants in the World in 2019 and 2020

Year 2022, Volume: 4 - Supplement 1, 41 - 46, 01.04.2022

Ersin Elgin , Mehmet Sezen , Abdulmecit Yildiz , Ayşegül Oruç , Saide Güllülü , Mehmet Çağatay Çiçek , Kadir Ömür Günseven , Kerem Selimoğlu , Rafet Oflaz , Alparslan Ersoy

https://doi.org/10.46310/tjim.1073653

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has had adverse effects in every field. One of the affected areas is organ supply and transplantation. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the pandemic period on the number of kidney transplants in 2019 and 2020 in countries with a population of 40 million and above.
Material and Methods: We evaluated kidney transplants from living and deceased donors reported between 2019 and 2020 from the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation (GODT). We obtained the number of kidney transplants in countries with a population of 40 million and over before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: The total number of kidney transplants performed in 2019 and 2020 of countries with a population of 40 million or more, which sent data to the GODT database, were respectively: Sudan 313 and 139, Algeria 270 and 91, Argentina 1,675 and 854, Spain 3,423 and 2,702, Colombia 947 and 526, Republic of Korea 2,293 and 2,280, Italy 2,139 and 1,907, France 3,643 and 2,595, UK 3,649 and 2,567, Thailand 679 and 712, Germany 2,132 and 1,909, Iran 2,101 and 1,240, Turkey 3,863 and 2,498, Philippines 300 and 132, Ethiopia 35 and 8, Japan 1,913 and 1,697, Mexico 2,976 and 913, Russian Federation 1,473 and 1,124, Bangladesh 205 and 155, Nigeria 164 and 165, Pakistan 1,306 and 129, Brazil 6,298 and 4,830, United States 24,273 and 23,644, India 9,751 and 5,486, China 12,124 and 11,037.
Conclusions: Compared to 2019, deceased and living kidney transplants increased only in Thailand in 2020, while kidney transplants in other countries have decreased. Countries where deceased kidney transplants increased in 2020, were Thailand, Korea, and the United States. Total kidney transplants in Turkey decreased by 35.4% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Keywords

who, live donor, organ donation

References

• Wordometers coronavirus. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus. Accessed February 10, 2022.
• WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available at: https://covid19.who.int/. Accessed February 10, 2022.
• Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation Export Database. Available at: http://www.transplant-observatory.org/export-database/ Accessed February 10, 2022.
• Özkan S. Evaluation of awareness and attitudes about organ donation of the relatives of the patients diagnosed cronic kidney disease. MS thesis. Trakya Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2019.
• Khairallah P, Aggarwal N, Awan AA, Vangala C, Airy M, Pan JS, Murthy BVR, Winkelmayer WC, Ramanathan V. The impact of COVID-19 on kidney transplantation and the kidney transplant recipient - One year into the pandemic. Transpl Int. 2021 Apr;34(4):612-621. doi: 10.1111/tri.13840.
• Ersoy A. The frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic: Healthcare workers. Turkish J Int Med. 2020 Apr 29;2(2):31-2. doi: 10.46310/tjim.726917.
• Ersoy A. COVID-19 and kidney diseases. In: Heper C, ed. Multidisciplinary COVID-19. 1. baskı. Bursa: Bursa Medical Chamber Publications; 2020:453-97.
• Katvan E, Cohen J, Ashkenazi T. Organ donation in the time of COVID-19: the Israeli experience one year into the pandemic-ethical and policy implications. Isr J Health Policy Res. 2022 Jan 31;11(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s13584-022-00519-8.
• Ferhatoglu MF, Filiz AI, Sahin OZ, Gurkan A. Global Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Era on Kidney Transplantation Activities: Analysis of WHO Data. Transplant Proc. 2021 Dec 8:S0041-1345(21)00894-0. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.12.001.
• Ribeiro Junior MAF, Costa CTK, Néder PR, Aveiro IA, Elias YGB, Augusto SS. Impact of COVID-19 on the number of transplants performed in Brazil during the pandemic. Current situation. Rev Col Bras Cir. 2021 Sep 24;48:e20213042. doi: 10.1590/0100-6991e-20213042.
• Servin-Rojas M, Olivas-Martinez A, Ramirez Del Val F, Torres-Gomez A, Navarro-Vargas L, García-Juárez I. Transplant trends in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic: Disparities within healthcare sectors. Am J Transplant. 2021 Dec;21(12):4052-60. doi: 10.1111/ajt.16801.
• Meshram HS, Kute VB, Swarnalatha G, Hegde U, Sharma A, Sahay M, Guleria S, Raju SB, Eapen JJ, Ray DS, Chaudhury AR, Patel HV, Siddini V, Pathak V, Agarwal D, Bahadur MM, Verma PP, Anandh U, Krishna A, Abraham A, Mishra V. Effect of Coronavirus Disease 2019 on Transplantation and Nephrology in India: A Nationwide Report From India. Transplant Proc. 2021 Oct 2:S0041-1345(21)00684-9. doi: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2021.09.008.
• Kidney transplantation. In: Süleymanlar G, Kenan Ateş K, Seyahi N, eds. Registry of The Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation in Turkey Registry 2020. Ministry of Health and Turkish Society of Nephrology Joint Report. Ankara: Miki Printing Industry and Trade Limited Company; 2021:51-60.