Outcomes of COVID‐19–Positive Donor Heart Transplantation in the United States

Abstract

Background Little is known regarding the impact of donor COVID‐19 status on recipient outcomes after heart transplantation. In this study, we characterize outcomes of the first 110 heart transplants from organ donors positive for COVID‐19 (COVID‐19+) in the United States. Methods and Results Retrospective analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing database was performed for single‐organ adult heart transplants from January 2020 to March 2022. Donor COVID‐19+ status was defined as a positive nucleic acid amplification, antigen, or other COVID‐19 test within 7 days of transplant. Nearest‐neighbor propensity score matching used to adjust for differences between recipients of COVID‐19+ and nonpositive donor hearts. Overall, 7251 heart transplants were included in analysis, with 110 using COVID‐19+ donor hearts. Recipients of COVID‐19+ allografts were younger (54 [interquartile range, 41–61]) versus 57 [46–64] years; P=0.02) but had similar rates of female sex and non‐White race compared with those receiving allografts from negative donors. Nearest‐neighbor propensity score matching resulted in 100 well‐matched pairs of recipients of COVID‐19+ versus nonpositive donor organs. The 2 matched groups had similar median lengths of stay (15 [11–23] days versus 15 [13–23] days; P=0.40), rates of graft failure (1% versus 0%; P=0.99), 30‐day death (3% versus 3%; P=0.99), and 3‐month survival (88% versus 94%; P=0.23) compared with recipients of nonpositive donors. No deaths occurred due to COVID‐19 infection among the 8 (7%) total deceased recipients of COVID‐19+ allografts to date. Conclusions Short‐term outcomes of heart transplant recipients receiving COVID‐19+ donor organs are reassuring. However, continued monitoring for long‐term survival and potential complications are warranted.

Keywords

• coronavirus disease 2019
• donor qualities
• heart failure
• heart transplantation
• outcomes research
• survival