Keeping livers 'alive' boosts transplant success, trial finds
Keeping donated livers "alive" with a machine prior to transplants boosts the chances of a successful operation, a landmark trial has found.Usually livers are kept in ice prior before the surgery, but many become damaged and unusable as a result. For this study, scientists put them in a perfusion machine, pumping the organs with blood, nutrients and medicines.More of these "warm" livers went on to be transplanted and showed less damage than the "cold" ones, the trial found.Scientists said the study could help to reduce the significant proportion of people who die waiting for a new liver and potentially "transform" how organ transplants are carried out. Record number of organ donors in 2017'Warmed liver' transplant first'Major impact'The randomised controlled trial involved 222 liver tran...