Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2025
Technique of Subnormothermic Ex Vivo Liver Perfusion for the Storage, Assessment, and Repair of Marginal Liver Grafts
Published on: August 13, 2014
Normothermic Regional Perfusion Can Improve Both Utilization and Outcomes in DCD Liver, Kidney, and Pancreas
Yuki Bekki1, Kristopher P Croome2, Bryan Myers1
1Recanati-Miller Transplantation Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY.
Abstract:
Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) has gained widespread adoption in multiple European countries. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of thoracoabdominal-NRP (TA-NRP) on the utilization and outcomes of liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation in the United States.
Methods:
Using the US national registry data between 2020 and 2021, donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors were separated into 2 groups: DCD with TA-NRP and without TA-NRP. There were 5234 DCD donors; among them 34 donors were with TA-NRP. After 1:4 propensity score matching, the utilization rates were compared between DCD with and without TA-NRP.
Results:
Although the utilization rates of kidney and pancreas were comparable (P = 0.71 and P = 0.06, 94.1% versus 95.6% and 8.8% versus 2.2%, respectively), that of liver in DCD with TA-NRP was significantly higher (P < 0.001; 70.6% versus 39.0%). Among 24 liver transplantations, 62 kidney transplantations, and 3 pancreas transplantations from DCD with TA-NRP, there were 2 liver grafts and 1 kidney graft that failed within 1 y after transplantation.
Conclusions:
TA-NRP in the United States significantly increased the utilization rate of abdominal organs from DCD donors with comparable outcomes after transplantation. Increasing use of NRP may expand the donor pool without compromising transplant outcomes.
