Normothermic machine perfusion for donated livers had a 50% lower rate of graft injury and no significant difference in bile duct complications, graft survival or patient survival compared with conventional static cold storage, according to a recently published study.

“Despite many advances in liver transplantation, the method of organ preservation has changed very little in almost 30 years. In recent years, interest has developed in perfusion at physiological temperature,” David Nasralla, MRCS, from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues wrote. “During [normothermic machine perfusion (NMP)], the liver is perfused with oxygenated blood, medications and nutrients at normal body temperature to maintain a physiological milieu.”