Rejuvenating organs ‘unfit’ for transplant

A NEW ‘life support’ machine for rejected donor livers could reduce transplant waiting lists and save lives.

In a study at the University of Birmingham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, scientists are testing a liver perfusion machine that keeps rejected organs at body temperature, ‘boosting’ them with oxygenated blood and medications.

If considered viable, the livers will then be transplanted into patients in the trial.

Liver transplants have a high success rate, but over a fifth of patients on the waiting list die before surgery or are removed from the list due to worsening health.