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Most patients with COVID-19 have a mild or asymptomatic disease course; however, about 10% require admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) because of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). 1, 2 Mortality rates of up to 60% have been reported for this subgroup. 3, 4 Lung transplantation remains the ultimate treatment option for various chronic end-stage lung diseases. In addition, it can be considered as a salvage therapy for carefully selected patients who have severe treatment-refractory ARDS. 5 However, wide uncertainty exists as to whether lung transplantation could have a place in the treatment of severe COVID-19 and, if so, what the optimal timing for such a treatment should be. Herein, we report the first case of lung transplantation for a patient with a persistently positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) real-time RT-PCR test result.

On March 21, 2020, at a time …