King’s college hospital has announced it will play host to a groundbreaking trial to assist in organ preservation, in order to help increase the number of life-saving organ transplants, writes Frankie Hills…
The pilot scheme will be part of a move to introduce machine perfusion into the King’s Liver Transplant Unit. It is hoped that the trial will help ensure the best possible use for every organ that is donated, increasing the efficiency of transplant services within the NHS.
Machine perfusion works by helping preserve and assess organs that would otherwise not be transplanted. When placed on a machine, either bloody or a cold oxygen solution will be pumped through it. This therefore helps medical staff preserve the organ, whilst also allowing tests to be ran to see how well it will work once transplanted into a patient.
Varuna Aluvihare, consultant in liver medicine at King’s, said: “Through machine perfusion, we have the potential to be able to transplant livers which would have otherwise carried a higher risk into patients facing a long and uncertain wait for a suitable organ — with excellent outcomes.
“We are extremely proud to have been selected as a pilot site by NHS Blood and Transplant, and have a part in this ground-breaking step forward in organ donation and transplantation.”
