Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026
Normothermic Ex Vivo Pancreas Perfusion for the Preservation of Pancreas Allografts before Transplantation
Published on: July 27, 2022
Organ preservation in pancreas and islet transplantation
Reto M Baertschiger1, Thierry Berney, Philippe Morel
1Islet Isolation and Transplantation Center, Department of Surgery, University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. reto.m.baertschiger@hcuge.ch
Purpose Of Review:
Organ preservation aims at reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury and maintains or even improves its function, and, therefore, increases transplant safety and efficiency. With the chronic lack of organs for transplantation, marginal donors are more and more frequently used in Western countries. New challenges, therefore, have to be met in organ preservation.
Recent Findings:
We summarize the effects of cold preservation on various organ grafts, with particular emphasis on the pancreas. We review the different preservation solutions currently available in the clinic, and we present the current knowledge and clinical experience in pancreas and islet transplantation.
Summary:
Overall, in whole pancreas and islet transplantation, current cold preservation solutions (University of Wisconsin solution, Celsior, histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate) seem to be equivalent, with only few studies showing better results with University of Wisconsin solution. Regarding preservation with the two-layer method, conflicting results have been reported, and proper prospective controlled studies have yet to be performed to gather evidence on its impact on islet yield and function. Some recent developments and future strategies in general organ preservation not yet applied to pancreas preservation are reviewed at the end of the article.
