New machine-perfusion organ preservation system keeps livers healthier for transplant

(University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences) A new preservation system that pumps cooled, oxygen-rich fluid into donor livers not only keeps the organs in excellent condition for as long as nine hours before transplantation, but also leads to dramatically better liver function and increases survival of recipients, according to animal studies conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The system cou...