Monday, April 6, 2020

Transplantation slows in Canada, too...

Ventilators in short supply may be part of the problem (since most deceased donations involve ventilators), but there's also a general risk aversion at play...

Donated organs not being used as hospitals scale back transplants for COVID-19

"OTTAWA — Transplant centres across the country have massively scaled back organ transplants as hospitals try to make sure they are able to accommodate COVID-19 cases.

"Living-donor surgeries have largely shut down across the country, and deceased-donor transplants are happening only when the case is urgent.

"Dr. Atul Humar, past president of the Canadian Society of Transplantation, said that means many organs are not going to good use.

“There’s some donors, deceased organ donors, and we’re not sending teams to procure those organs,” said Humar, who is also the director of the transplant program at Toronto General Hospital.

“It’s quite tragic.”

"Patients who go through certain types of organ donation often require time in the intensive care unit on a ventilator — resources desperately needed by patients with serious cases of COVID-19.

"At Humar’s hospital, organ transplant surgeries have decreased by about 80 per cent, though the numbers vary from province to province."

No comments: