Perfusion device for liver preservation ex vivo before transplantation: first experimental study

Abstract

Introduction . Successful liver transplantation including from donors with a sudden irreversible cardiac arrest requires the use of modern hardware and technical support to maintain, select and sustain organ viability for the period from harvesting to transplantation to the recipient. Materials and methods . Hardware-software system (HSS) developed by the Russian State Scientific Center for Robotics and Technical Cybernetics (RTC) was used for testing of normothermic perfusion of donor’s liver ex vivo. The experiment was conducted on the isolated pig liver (Duroc breed) in accordance with the ethical principles. Result. During perfusion spontaneous recovery of bile outflow through the cannula installed in the common bile duct (volume of bile released – 240 ml) was observed, and the color and uniformity of the perfused liver did not differ from the normal parameters. Biochemical indicators were stabilized at the physiological values after 40 minutes of perfusion procedure. Conclusion . Isolated liver transplant was completely restored after 30 minutes of warm ischemia and was functioning well due to ex vivo perfusion procedure on the new perfusion device. The first case of the new device usage for normothermic liver ex vivo demonstrated hopeful results to be further investigated.