Experimental appraisal of factors involved in provision of donor livers

The results of a series of porcine orthotopic liver homotransplants have shown that hepatic damage is related almost entirely to the period of warm ischaemia following death. Low flow perfusion with modified plasma would seem to be a satisfactory method of preserving cadaveric livers for at least six hours.In man it would appear possible to use cadaver livers derived from patients who had or had not been treated with artificial ventilation during life, provided the period of warm ischaemia is not longer than 25 to 30 minutes.