Faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, the biomedicine agency takes stock of 2020, then recommends “continuing organ transplants of an emergency nature, and postponing them in other cases”.
- The decrease in activity was less noticeable for the organs for which there is no substitute treatment
- Heart transplants have dropped by around 13%, kidney transplants by 29% and pancreas transplants by 60%.
- The decrease observed for liver transplants is 17% and 26% for lung transplants
In 2020, 4417 transplants were possible, via 1355 deceased donors and 400 living donors, and “thanks to the daily work of the hospital staff involved, in difficult conditions”, reports the biomedicine agency.
Heart, kidney, pancreas… Overall drop in the number of transplants
Compared to 2019, there was a 25% reduction in the total number of transplants in France. The drop in activity was less noticeable for the organs for which there is no replacement treatment: the heart thus experienced a drop of approximately 13%, the kidney of 29% and the pancreas of 60%. The decline observed on the liver is 17% and 26% for the lung. Transplants from living donors decreased by 24%.
Faced with the covid-19 pandemic, the biomedicine agency recommends “continue organ transplants of an emergency nature, and postpone them in other cases”. She continues: “kidney transplants will therefore be temporarily suspended, with the exception of pediatric kidney transplants and combined kidney transplants”. She also reminds “the need for continued tissue removal.”
“Tissue harvesting was very heavily affected by the first lockdown”
In 2020, cornea collection activity fell by 27% compared to 2019, with 4,614 corneas collected in 2020 compared to 6,333 in 2019. This drop in cornea collection activity was particularly marked in April 2020 . “The tissue collection activity was therefore very heavily affected by the first confinement. We also note a slight decline in the number of registrations on the horny waiting list”, comment the experts.
Finally, public opposition to organ donation has increased slightly, from a refusal rate of 30.5% in 2019 to 33% in 2020.
7,390 patients infected with SARS-Cov-2
As of February 8, 2021, the Agency identified 7,390 patients infected with SARS-Cov-2: 1,784 kidney transplant patients (4% of kidney transplant patients) and 5,606 dialysis patients (11% of dialysis patients). There are 266 deaths in kidney transplantation (15%) and 881 in dialysis (16%) whose cause is considered to be linked to SARS-Cov2.
“The health crisis is an ordeal for everyone, and in particular for transplant patients or patients awaiting a transplant. But we will learn lessons for the future: in the field of organ harvesting and transplantation, it has already contributed to strengthening transparency, health democracy and a sense of community”, concludes Mrs. Cortot-Boucher, Director General of the Biomedicine Agency.
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