In a world first, a donated human liver has been ‘kept alive’ outside a human being and then successfully transplanted into a patient in need of a new liver.
So far the procedure has been performed on two patients on the liver transplant waiting list and both are making excellent recoveries.
Currently transplantation depends on preserving donor organs by putting them ‘on ice’ – cooling them to slow their metabolism. But this often leads to organs becoming damaged.
The technology, developed at Oxford and now being trialled at the University of Oxford liver transplant centre at King’s College Hospital as part of a controlled clinical investigation, could preserve a functioning liver outside the body for 24 hours. A donated human liver connected to the device is raised to body temperature and oxygenated red blood cells are circulated through its capillaries. Once on the machine, a liver functions normally just as it would inside a human body, regaining its colour and producing bile.
The results from the first two transplants, carried out at King’s College Hospital in February 2013, suggest that the device could be useful for all patients needing liver transplants. Based on pre-clinical data, the new device could also enable the preservation of livers which would otherwise be discarded as unfit for transplantation – potentially as much as doubling the number of organs available for transplant and prolonging the maximum period of organ preservation to 24 hours.
‘These first clinical cases confirm that we can support human livers outside the body, keep them alive and functioning on our machine and then, hours later, successfully transplant them into a patient,’ said Professor Constantin Coussios of Oxford University’s Department of Engineering Science, one of the machine’s inventors and Technical Director of OrganOx, the University spin-out created to bring the device from bench to bedside.
‘The device is the very first completely automated liver perfusion device of its kind: the organ is perfused with oxygenated red blood cells at normal body temperature, just as it would be inside the body, and can for example be observed making bile, which makes it an extraordinary feat of engineering.
‘It was astounding to see an initially cold grey liver flushing with colour once hooked up to our machine and performing as it would within the body. What was even more amazing was to see the same liver transplanted into a patient who is now walking around.
‘Whilst for these two transplants we only needed to keep the livers alive for up to 10 hours, in other experiments we have shown we can preserve a functioning liver and monitor its function outside the body for periods up to 24 hours.’
The Latest Bing News on:
Liver transplants
- Complaints, pressure from organ clearinghouse led Jackson to halt adult heart transplantson March 30, 2023 at 2:00 am
We have to find out why there is a discrepancy between every other transplant program and heart,’ said Dr. Rodrigo Vianna, director of the Miami Transplant Institute ...
- Weymouth family awaiting liver transplant for baby boy finds solace in helping otherson March 29, 2023 at 8:29 pm
Unfortunately, his didn't take as well as they would have hoped. Now he is in need of a liver transplant," mom Shannon explained. "The sad part was I thought I was always going to be a match for him, ...
- Living donor liver transplant is the most tightly regulated in the book of surgery: Expertson March 29, 2023 at 7:29 pm
Living donor liver transplant is the most tightly regulated in the book of surgery towards ensuring patient safety today. Experts opine that every single living donor liver transplant in which a ...
- Tiny Transplant Titans: couple starts nonprofit while 1-year-old awaits new liveron March 29, 2023 at 5:47 pm
I was hoping to give my son part of my liver." As they wait for other family members to go through the screening process, Squillante and his wife, Shannon, started a nonprofit to help other families ...
- Tiny Transplant Titans: Weymouth couple starts nonprofit while 1-year-old awaits new liveron March 29, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Stephen Squillante III was diagnosed with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia, which impacts 1 in 15,000 babies. His parents have started a nonprofit to help other children and families who ...
- Smaller Liver Transplant Candidates Wait Longer, Less Likely to Receive Organon March 29, 2023 at 2:25 pm
Opens in a new tab or window Share on Twitter. Opens in a new tab or window Share on LinkedIn. Opens in a new tab or window Liver transplant waitlist candidates who are smaller in size are ...
- Kidney and liver transplants to resume at Penn State Health after shutdown due to problemson March 29, 2023 at 10:42 am
When Dr. Johnny Hong was growing up in the Philippines, his father’s life depended on a kidney transplant. Kidney transplants were rare in the late 1960s, and Hong’s father had to travel to Taiwan. He ...
- Tiny Transplant Titans: Weymouth couple start nonprofit while 1-year-old awaits new liveron March 29, 2023 at 1:30 am
Tiny Transplant Titans aims to support children who have received life-saving transplants and those still waiting for their gift of life.
- Research might speed identification of individuals who require liver transplantson March 29, 2023 at 12:00 am
Retrospective analysis of blood samples and medical records from 270 patients admitted to the hospital with acute liver failure (ALF) found that concentrations of a short-lived but abundant serum ...
- Research may speed identification of patients who need liver transplantson March 27, 2023 at 6:31 am
Of transplant livers, 214 of 9,528 went to patients with acute liver failure last year. "Any prognostic tool that helps distinguish patients likely to recover from those likely to die from their ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Liver transplants
[google_news title=”” keyword=”liver transplants” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
[/vc_column_text]
The Latest Bing News on:
Liver machine
- How to Measure and Assess Liver Fibrosis: Endorsement of the Use of Vibration-Controlled Transient Elastographyon March 28, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Hepatic fibrosis is the common result of injury to the liver from a variety of damaging mechanisms, and the accurate assessment of the degree of fibrosis is clinically important. For many years ...
- Evaluation of the Liver for Metastatic Diseaseon March 27, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Most metastatic deposits are solid and mainly hypoechoic relative to the background liver (Fig. 4). Many will exhibit a hypoechoic "halo" (Fig. 5). There is some controversy as to whether the halo ...
- A liver transplant is Efraim’s only hope for lifeon March 27, 2023 at 12:07 pm
Efraim’s only hope is to travel abroad and have surgery in a private medical center. The cost of surgery, of flights and accommodations are beyond our family’s capacity. We opened all our savings ...
- Pictured: The moment US marshals capture fugitive MMA fighter War Machine 'who stabbed porn star girlfriend and ruptured her liver in horrific assault'on March 26, 2023 at 5:00 pm
WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS War Machine, the MMA fighter who allegedly assaulted ex-girlfriend Christy Mack and another individual, was arrested on Friday at an Extended Stay America Hotel Simi Valley ...
- Pup’s enzyme levels cause concernon March 25, 2023 at 9:52 pm
I received a call from the vet informing me that one thing in her pre-surgery bloodwork was abnormal and, as such, they wanted to delay the anesthesia and surgery pending further diagnosis.
- Cod Liver Oil: Are There Health Benefits?on March 22, 2023 at 5:00 pm
Cod liver oil has been used for centuries as a preventative measure against vitamin D deficiency, also called rickets. Historically, people living in northern Europe have relied on cod liver oil ...
- Treatment for secondary liver canceron March 19, 2023 at 5:00 pm
This is where the therapy radiographer uses a machine outside the body to direct radiation beams at the cancer to destroy it. Livers are very sensitive to radiotherapy so it is not a common treatment ...
- What You Should Know Before Taking Liver Supplementson March 9, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Supplements such as milk thistle, artichoke leaf, and dandelion root may help detox the liver, but there isn’t enough evidence to prove it. Making healthy lifestyle choices is a better way to ...
- What to know about alcoholic liver disease?on March 5, 2023 at 4:00 pm
Alcoholic liver disease is liver damage from overconsuming alcohol. It can cause a buildup of fats, inflammation, and scarring. The liver is one of the most complex organs in the human body ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Liver machine
[google_news title=”” keyword=”liver machine” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]