Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Ex Situ Normothermic Machine Perfusion of Donor Livers
Published on: May 26, 2015
Hypothermic Machine Perfusion in Liver Transplantation - A Randomized Trial
Rianne van Rijn1, Ivo J Schurink1, Yvonne de Vries1
1From the Department of Surgery, Section of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation (R.R., Y.V., O.B.L., V.E.M., R.J.P.), the Departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (A.P.B.) and Radiology (R.J.H., J.J.G.S.), University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Departments of Surgery (I.J.S., W.G.P., J.J.) and Gastroenterology and Hepatology (S.D.M.), Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, and the Departments of Surgery (J.I.E., V.A.L.H.) and Gastroenterology and Hepatology (B.H.), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden - all in the Netherlands; the Institute of Liver Studies, Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London (M.C.C., N.H.); the Transplantation Research Group, the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Transplantation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and the Department of Abdominal Transplantation Surgery and Coordination, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven (N.G., I.J., D.M.), and the Department of Transplant Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent (R.I.T., A.V.) - both in Belgium.
Background:
Transplantation of livers obtained from donors after circulatory death is associated with an increased risk of nonanastomotic biliary strictures. Hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion of livers may reduce the incidence of biliary complications, but data from prospective, controlled studies are limited.
Methods:
In this multicenter, controlled trial, we randomly assigned patients who were undergoing transplantation of a liver obtained from a donor after circulatory death to receive that liver either after hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion (machine-perfusion group) or after conventional static cold storage alone (control group). The primary end point was the incidence of nonanastomotic biliary strictures within 6 months after transplantation. Secondary end points included other graft-related and general complications.
Results:
A total of 160 patients were enrolled, of whom 78 received a machine-perfused liver and 78 received a liver after static cold storage only (4 patients did not receive a liver in this trial). Nonanastomotic biliary strictures occurred in 6% of the patients in the machine-perfusion group and in 18% of those in the control group (risk ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14 to 0.94; P = 0.03). Postreperfusion syndrome occurred in 12% of the recipients of a machine-perfused liver and in 27% of those in the control group (risk ratio, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.91). Early allograft dysfunction occurred in 26% of the machine-perfused livers, as compared with 40% of control livers (risk ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.96). The cumulative number of treatments for nonanastomotic biliary strictures was lower by a factor of almost 4 after machine perfusion, as compared with control. The incidence of adverse events was similar in the two groups.
Conclusions:
Hypothermic oxygenated machine perfusion led to a lower risk of nonanastomotic biliary strictures following the transplantation of livers obtained from donors after circulatory death than conventional static cold storage. (Funded by Fonds NutsOhra; DHOPE-DCD ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02584283.).
