The transplant center team at Westchester Medical Center (WMC) in Valhalla, the flagship of WMCHealth, successfully transplanted a liver in a patient who had recently recovered from Covid-19, demonstrating that appropriate, prospective organ recipients who have recovered from the viral infection can be safely considered for organ transplantation.
Abhay Dhand, M.D., director of transplant infectious diseases at Westchester Medical Center, said, “Transplanting organs in recently recovered Covid-19 patients can be challenging and this was especially true during the earlier days of the pandemic, as we struggled to learn more about the virus and its resulting complications. Uncertainties with diagnosis, the involvement of multiple organs and systems, prolonged viral shedding and immunosuppression were all weighable factors in our care decisions.
“In the end, we concluded that prospective liver recipients can and should be considered for transplantation after recovery from Covid-19, as long as the proper evaluation, donor selection and risk-benefit analysis are performed,” said Dhand.
The Westchester Medical Center Transplant Center is the only multiorgan transplant program in eastern New York state, from New York City north to the Canadian border, known to offer adult heart and adult and pediatric liver and kidney transplants, as well as liver and kidney living donor transplant services. In addition to solid-organ transplantation, WMC also offers programs in bone marrow and corneal transplant.
For more information about the transplant services at Westchester Medical Center, visit WestchesterMedicalCenter.org/Transplant.
