Impact of the first Covid-19 outbreak on liver transplantation activity in France: A snapshot.

Abstract Background The global pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has potentially affected liver transplantation (LT) programs worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine whether the COVID-19 outbreak affected organ donation and LT activity in France. Methods Data on the number of brain-dead donor procurements and adult liver transplantations were compared between two periods (1st January- 31st May 2019 vs. 1st January-31st May 2020). Main findings There was a 28% decrease in the number of organ donations in 2020 (543 in 2020vs. 752 organ donations in 2019). A 22% decrease in the number of liver transplantations was also observed: 435 in 2020 vs. 556 LTs in 2019. Overall, the North East area which was the main COVID-19 cluster area, had > 25% decrease of the multiorgan procurement (-33% compared to 2019), and liver transplantation (-26% compared to 2019) activities in 2020 Conclusion This analysis confirmed that during the COVID-19 outbreak there was a significant decrease in the number of organ donations and liver transplantations performed in France.