Special public comment period begins Aug. 31 for proposed COVID-related lung diagnoses

Published on: Sunday, August 30, 2020

Lung transplants have already been performed for candidates with significant lung disease related to COVID-19 infection. To help track future transplant candidates, the OPTN Lung Transplantation Committee proposes to establish diagnoses for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary fibrosis relating to COVID-19. The OPTN Executive Committee has approved a special public comment period from Aug. 31 through Oct. 1 to gather feedback on the proposal.

The proposal would add COVID-19: ARDS and COVID-19: pulmonary fibrosis under Diagnosis Group D in OPTN Policy 10.1.F.i, Lung Disease Diagnosis Groups. These diagnoses would also be made available in the dropdown menu for listing candidates in Waitlist^SM.