Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes (Apr 2023)

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Causing Infection of Transplanted Lung Allograft: A Pitfall of Prolonged Shedding of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Pretransplant

  • Sadia Z. Shah, MD, MBA,
  • Francisco G. Alvarez, MD,
  • Devang K. Sanghavi, MD,
  • Pablo Moreno Franco, MD,
  • Shahin Isha, MBBS,
  • Christopher P. Marquez, MD,
  • Claudia Libertin, MD,
  • Pramod K. Guru, MBBS, MD,
  • Basar Sareyyupoglu, MD,
  • Si M. Pham, MD

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 2
pp. 93 – 98

Abstract

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to considerable morbidity and mortality across the world. Lung transplant is a viable option for a few with COVID-19–related lung disease. Whom and when to transplant has been the major question impacting the transplant community given the novelty of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We describe a pitfall of presumed prolonged shedding of SARS-CoV-2 in a patient with COVID-19 associated acute respiratory distress syndrome leading to COVID-19 pneumonia after lung transplant. This raises concerns that replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 virus can persist for months post-infection and can lead to re-infection of grafts in the future.