Liver transplantation rates have been negatively affected by the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current practice in the liver transplant community is to avoid utilizing SARS-CoV-2-positive donors for liver transplantation unless there is a compelling reason such as recipient illness severity. In this case, we report the use of a donor who had a positive exposure to and symptom history for COVID-19 and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on admission for a liver transplant recipient with primary sclerosing cholangitis and a Model of End-Stage Liver Disease score of 23 with no known COVID-19 exposures. We focus on the decision to accept this particular organ, as well as the discussion with the recipient about the unknowns of disease transmission and risk associated with this donor. The current case argues that transplant programs should begin to consider low-risk donors with positive SARS-CoV-2 testing for recipients who have the potential to benefit from liver transplantation, which may not only be those with the most severe illness.
Keywords: COVID-19; liver allocation; liver transplantation.
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