Early acute rejection after lung transplantation mimicking viral pneumonia in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic : a case report

Introduction: In addition to morbidity and mortality rate per se, COVID-19 outbreak leads to potential 'side effects', which are difficult to evaluate and predict. Lung transplantation is a consolidated treatment for end-stage chronic lung disease requiring significantly demanding management. Deciding whether to keep transplant programmes open during an epidemic of this size is not easy, as immunosuppressed subjects face the risk of infection and related mortality. Additionally, there is a chance for the patient's standard care process to be compromised. Presentation of case: We report the case of a patient undergoing bilateral lung transplantation during the explosion of COVID-19 epidemic in Lombardy; he died from definite early acute antibody-mediated rejection, clinically (persistent high fever, unresponsive to treatment) and radiologically mimicking viral pneumonia but persistently negative for SARS-CoV-2. Discussion: The diagnosis was difficult given this atypical presentation, confounded by global scenario. Grafts were procured from a donation after circulatory death donor in an uncontrolled setting and a donor-recipient transmission was possible. Our institute became a COVID-Hospital right during the first post-transplantation days. Radiological imaging had the same features of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Conclusions: This is the first report of lung transplantation of the COVID-19 era in Europe. Our extremely fragile patient was COVID-19 free up to the end. Donor-recipient transmission is conceivable, but the risk should be assessed with respect to waiting list mortality. Ultimately, treating COVID-19 patients can be a resource-consuming activity but we decided to keep our centre open.