Kidney on the Rocks or Perfused? I'll Take Mine Perfused.
As reported in TIME, researchers from the University of Groningen have found a new method to keep organs from cadaveric donors better preserved for transplant. Better than simply tossing them on ice in coolers, organs that were perfused, or had a cold blood-like substance pumped through them while they were waiting to be transplanted, had a longer survival rate at one year and and just a few weeks post-transplant.
The difference in terms of survival was only 4% between perfused and iced kidneys, so we aren't talking about a big difference in terms of outcome, but in terms of the money saved from these 4% of patients who do not have to be on dialysis--that is a significant cost savings. Moreover, the authors argued that as the technology is perfected and more widely used the need for living donation could be decreased--thus not having to harm living donors.
Summer Johnson, PhD
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