Media release

From: Springer Nature

Medicine: Human liver preserved for three days successfully transplanted

A patient who received a human liver that was preserved for three days outside of the body using machine perfusion remains healthy after one year, according to a paper published in Nature Biotechnology. This technology may expand the number of livers available for transplantation whilst potentially allowing surgery to be scheduled days in advance, possibly saving lives.

There is an increasing gap between the demand for liver transplants and the small number that are available. However, as clinical practice is to store donor livers for no more than about 12 hours on ice before transplantation, the number of organs that can be matched to transplant recipients is limited.

Pierre-Alain Clavien and colleagues demonstrate the preservation of a human liver for three days outside of the body using a machine that performs a technique known as ‘ex situ normothermic perfusion’ — whereby the organ, while outside the body, is supplied with a blood substitute at normal body temperature. The liver was transplanted into a patient suffering from several serious liver conditions, including advanced cirrhosis and severe portal hypertension. The transplanted liver functioned normally, with minimal injury as blood flow from internal blood vessels returned, and only a basic immunosuppressant regime during the first six weeks after transplantation was needed. The patient rapidly recovered quality of life without any signs of liver damage, such as rejection or injury to the bile ducts. They remain healthy one year after surgery.

The authors caution that further research, with more patients and longer observation periods, is needed. However, these results suggest that such technology may not only increase the number of potential donor organs that are available, but also enhance the prospect of treating donor organs with drugs before transplantation.