ABSTRACT Background. At early stages of the pandemic, most organ procurements organizations considered COVID-19 infected donors to be ineligible for organ donation. The aim of this survey is to describe the current practices of the utilization of COVID-19 positive organs donors among American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) members. Methods. An anonymous 40-question redcap survey was emailed to ASTS members from June to August 2022. Results. One hundred forty-nine surveys from 10 countries were included for analysis. The majority of the responders were men (66.7%) from North America (95%) and identified as transplant surgeons (68.5%). Most work at academic institutions (76.5%). Almost all responders (94%) were willing to accept an organ from a donor with a history of COVID-19 who tested negative at the time of donation, however, there was no consensus on the length of time after the disease was resolved. Approximately 70% indicated they accept organs from asymptomatic donors with active disease. Only 32 responders indicated they would accept an organ from an individual with a history of “severe” COVID-19 infection and less than one third of the responders would accept an organ from a donor who died from COVID-19 infection. Interestingly, 80% indicated they have protocols at their institution to guide the acceptance of such organs. Discussion. Despite new evidence that the transmission of COVID-19 in non-lung organs is extremely rare, the results of this survey suggest significant heterogeneity in practice and perceptions of the use of COVID-19 positive organs across international centers. We suggest that the implementation of a standardized protocol is of paramount importance to continue safe transplant activity

Title

Transplantation Proceedings

Publisher

Elsevier

Publisher Country

Netherlands

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

0.8

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

56

Year

2024

Pages

1332-1340