• Fanourios Georgiades, Dominic M Summers, Andrew J Butler, Neil K I Russell, Menna R Clatworthy, and Nicholas Torpey.
• Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
• Clin Transplant. 2021 Jan 1; 35 (1): e14150.

AbstractThere is uncertainty about the safety of kidney transplantation during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic due to the risk of donor transmission, nosocomial infection and immunosuppression use. We describe organ donation and transplant practice in the UK and assess whether kidney transplantation conferred a substantial risk of harm. Data from the UK transplant registry were used to describe kidney donation and transplant activity in the UK, and a detailed analysis of short-term, single-center, patient results in two periods: during the pre-pandemic era from 30th December 2019 to 8th March 2020 ("Pre-COVID era") and the 9th March 2020 to 19th May 2020 ("COVID era"). Donor and recipient numbers fell by more than half in the COVID compared to the pre-COVID era in the UK, but there were more kidney transplants performed in our center (42 vs. 29 COVID vs. pre-COVID respectively). Overall outcomes, including re-operation, delayed graft function, primary non-function, acute rejection, length of stay and graft survival were similar between COVID and pre-COVID era. 6/71 patients became infected with SARS-CoV-2 but all were discharged without critical care requirement. Transplant outcomes have remained similar within the COVID period and no serious sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection were observed in the peri-transplant period.© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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