Liver Transplant Society of India Guidelines for Liver Transplant during COVID-19 times

Gupta, Subash; Sudhindran, S.; Saraf, Neeraj; Vijai, Anand; Swaminathan, Subramaniam; Panackel, Charles; Mehta, Naimish N.; Varghese, Joy; Singh, Shweta; Reddy, Mettu Srinivas; Viswanathan, M.S.; Bhangui, Prashant; Mohanka, Ravi; Asthana, Sonal; Rohatgi, Sanjeev

COVID-19 pandemic has affected liver transplantation in many ways. There is risk of infection to the transplant recipients; and COVID-19 is associated with significant risk of mortality in patients on wait list. The Liver Transplant Society of India has prepared guidelines regarding selection of adult and pediatric patients for liver transplantation, transplant for acute liver failure, use of deceased donor organs, transplant techniques and minimally invasive donor hepatectomy, pre and post-surgery testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–related coronavirus disease 2019 in donors and recipients, role of COVID-19 antibody testing, shifting of recipients from COVID-19 to non-COVID-19 areas after recovery, isolation policy of team members exposed to COVID-19 patients, drug therapy of proven or suspected COVID-19 infection early post-transplant, care of SARS-CoV-2 positive donors and recipients and a separate COVID-19 consent for surgery.