A liver survived outside a human body for 3 days. How?
Organ donation is a life-saving process, but it is not simple. An organ needs to be transplanted on time, without any delay after extraction. In a recent event, surgeons successfully kept a liver alive outside the body for three days, thanks to advancements in technology in the health sector.
HOW IT HAPPENED?
The surgeons used a special machine that helped keep the liver warm and healthy.
The normothermic perfusion method was used to supply continuous blood to the liver. Normothermic perfusion is a method by which a physiological environment is created by maintaining optimal temperature levels. It also ensures a proper supply of nutrients and oxygen to the organ.
As reported by the journal Nature Biotechnology, experts believed that this method is better than using the traditional ice method because low temperatures can cause cell damage.
HOW IS THIS HELPFUL?
Usually, livers kept in a cool environment can stay healthy for up to 12 hours. This method helped a man receive a liver after being kept outside the body for 3 days. The experts have said that this time period can be stretched to 10 days as well.
This advancement could help reduce the number of organs that are discarded. Patients will also get more time to plan their organ transplants.
HOW WAS THIS DONE?
The receiver required a new liver because of cancer. In May 2021, he received a new liver via organ transplantations four days after removal from a 29-year-old dead woman.
While the normothermic perfusion helped provide drugs, nutrition and optimal temperature to the liver, the patient was under observation. He was admitted to the hospital for 12 days after the surgery.
He was kept under observation after the surgery. After one year, he is doing well since the surgery.