[Machine perfusion: new opportunities in abdominal organ transplantation]

Machine perfusion of marginal grafts might be a possible solution to organ shortage and a promising tool for reducing waiting list morbidity and mortality. In recent years, optimizing the circumstances of organ preservation prior to implantation via machine perfusion has become a hot topic of research. Machine perfusion offers a platform for organ reconditioning, assessment of cell viability and function, pharmacological preconditioning, prolongation of preservation time (ischemia time) and finally reducing graft injury. The objective of the new technology is to increase the pool of transplantable organs safely. Multicentric prospective studies have been evaluating the short and long term outcomes of different methods, however, several questions still remain unanswered. This review summarizes the recent advances in the field of machine perfusion, focusing on preclinical and clinical results. Machine perfusion seems to be a new milestone in the modern era of solid organ transplantation. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(46): 1882-1890.