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18
Jan 2019
‘Game changing’ liver transplant storage procedure given NICE approval
A new liver transplant storage procedure has been approved for use on the NHS and hailed a ‘game changer’.
The new perfusion machines store donated livers at body temperature, slowing down the deterioration of the organ, meaning the number of livers safely used for transplantation can be increased.
Donor livers are typically stored on ice, limiting the length of time it can be stored and sometimes causing damage to the liver.
Currently around a fifth of patients die while waiting for a liver transplant.
Around 30 per cent of donated are unsuitable for transplantation, including those taken from people in poor health, the elderly, and those which have been damaged during removal from the donor’s body or whilst being stored on ice.
The perfusion machine enables the liver to recover from damage and can also be flushed with blood at body temperature and provided with medication, oxygen and nutrients, enabling its viability and function to be assessed.
NICE’s Professor Kevin Harris said “It offers another way of preserving the liver and assessing whether livers which might have previously been considered unsuitable can be used safely.
“By using this procedure, more patients on the organ transplant waiting list could be offered a chance of a transplant and thereby potentially extending their lives.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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