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Updated: Nov 23, 2025
Robot-Assisted Kidney Transplantation
Published on: July 19, 2021
Is it Safe to Be Transplanted From Living Donors Who Recovered From COVID-19? Experience of 31 Kidney Transplants in
Vivek B Kute1, Suraj Godara2, Sandeep Guleria3
1Department of Nephrology, Institute of Kidney Diseases and Research Center, Dr H.L. Trivedi Institute of Transplantation Sciences (IKDRC-ITS), Ahmedabad, India.
Insights
Kidney transplants from living donors recovered from COVID-19 are safe. Comprehensive screening ensures no complications for recipients or donors, demonstrating 100% patient and graft survival in this study.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Transplant Surgery
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Limited data exists on the feasibility and safety of kidney transplants involving living donors who have recovered from COVID-19.
- Assessing outcomes in this specific donor-recipient population is crucial for clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the safety and outcomes of kidney transplantation from living donors with a history of COVID-19.
- To establish screening protocols for such donor-recipient pairs.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective cohort study involving 31 kidney transplant recipients and their living donors in India.
- Donors were accepted after confirming COVID-19 recovery (2 negative PCR tests, 28 days symptom resolution, 14 days social distancing).
- Data collected included demographics, clinical details, immunosuppression, and outcomes.
Main Results:
- COVID-19 severity in donors ranged from asymptomatic (71%) to mild (29%); none had moderate or severe disease.
- 100% patient and graft survival was observed at a median follow-up of 44 days.
- A low rate of acute cellular rejection (6.4%) was reported, with no COVID-19 related complications in recipients or donors.
Conclusions:
- Living kidney donation is safe for individuals recovered from COVID-19 when rigorous donor and recipient screening is performed.
- This study provides valuable insights into managing kidney transplant recipients from recovered COVID-19 donors, representing the largest cohort to date.
Background:
There is lack of data on feasibility and safety of kidney transplants from living donors who recovered from COVID-19.
Methods:
Here, we present a retrospective cohort study of 31 kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from living donors who recovered from polymerase chain reaction confirmed COVID-19 across 19 transplant centers in India from July 3, 2020, to December 5, 2020. We detailed demographics, clinical manifestations, immunosuppression regimen, treatment, and outcomes. Donors with a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 were accepted after documenting 2 negative polymerase chain reaction tests with complete symptom resolution for at least 28 days and significant social distancing for 14 days before surgery.
Results:
COVID-19 clinical severity in donors ranged from completely asymptomatic (71%, n = 22) to mild infection (29%, n = 9). None progressed to moderate or severe stages of the disease in the entire clinical course of home treatment. Patient and graft survival was 100%, respectively, with acute cellular rejection being reported in 6.4% (n = 2) recipient. All recipients and donors were asymptomatic with normal creatinine at median follow-up of 44 days after surgery without any complications relating to surgery and COVID-19.
Conclusions:
Our data support safety of proceeding with living donation for asymptomatic individuals with comprehensive donor, recipients screening before surgery, using a combination of clinical, radiologic, and laboratory criteria. It could provide new insights into the management of KTR from living donors who have recovered from COVID-19 in India. To the best of our knowledge, this remains the largest cohort of KTR from living donors who recovered from COVID-19.
Related Concept Videos
01:28Kidney Transplant I: Introduction
01:26Kidney Transplant II: Surgical Procedure
01:16Kidney Transplant III: Nursing Management
01:30Acute Kidney Injury IV: Diagnostic Studies and Prevention