My wife has IPF and has been through evaluation process in Dallas for double lung transplant. She is still too healthy to get listed yet, but could get on list in next 6-months to year, doctors visits cancelled for now. Obviously she is in extreme high risk category so we are doing everything possible to keep her virus-free. My question is are hospitals still performing transplants and if not now will they start back up in future? Luckily, we have some time as she is not at a critical stage yet, my heart goes out to those that need transplants right now and can't get one.

My wife is a nurse here in Houston at one of the major transplant centers. She told me that last week most of their transplant nurses have been moved to alternative assignments. Absolute emergent transplants are still being done, but if patients can wait (ie have living donors etc) they are being told to wait until after corona for their protection. It's a super scary time for all. Hope you wife stays well!

I don't work at a transplant hospital. But I would presume for dire need pts they are doing them. But, sadly I suspect the organ pool is lower because there is less traumatic brain injury victims due to less traveling.

Overall transplant numbers are way down, partly because centers are not actively listing new patients, but also because the donation rates are way down (ie fewer motor vehicle accidents). Centers are also in limbo trying understand the risk of transplanting an organ from a coronavirus positive donor. Nearly all donors are being tested for coronavirus at this point, but sensitivity varies dependent on the test used and whether it's from a nasopharyngeal or BAL sample. So with that said, centers are transplanting only the very sickest patients who don't have another bailout option like dialysis for kidney failure patients or VADs for some heart failure patients. We're still transplanting hearts, but only in spiraling patients who can't be supported without circulatory support. Even then, wait times for hospitalized patients is now weeks to months. From what I'm hearing, most lung programs are more or less on hold considering the disease process and greater infection risk at baseline.

ZigZag - sorry about your wife. My wife is a transplant nurse at a big D/FW hospital. They are doing almost no transplants right now. No living donor transplants being performed and very few accidents such that the other kind of donors are making themselves available.