Breathing New Life into Donated Livers

Machine perfusion is buying time, and extending viability to donated livers, turning more gifts into new life. This process preserves donor livers by circulating warm, oxygenated blood while maintaining chemical balance. Unlike traditional cold storage, which kept livers on ice for 10–12 hours and carried risks of ischemia-reperfusion injury, perfusion provides continuous support under the supervision of a dedicated perfusionist from procurement to implantation. Organs now remain stable and functional for up to 36 hours in transit, enabling transplants from farther distances and even restoring previously unsuitable livers, expanding the donor pool.

In just one year, implementing perfusion in the liver transplant program has achieved remarkable results. Delayed graft function—when a liver fails to produce bile immediately after transplant—fell from 43% in FY23 to 24% in FY25, a significant quality milestone. Faster graft function has also reduced the need for intraoperative blood transfusions, a critical advance during national shortages. Patients are recovering more quickly, with shorter ICU stays that lower costs, free critical care resources, and reduce risks linked to prolonged admissions. Notably, one-year graft failures dropped from 10 in FY23 to just one in FY25. Since early graft function is the strongest predictor of long-term survival, these outcomes demonstrate that machine perfusion is not just improving efficiency; it’s transforming the quality, safety, and longevity of liver transplants.

The program’s adoption of machine perfusion is gaining national attention. Other institutions are reaching out to learn from their protocols and outcomes in care. This momentum is enabling the program to grow and, most importantly, to give more patients the chance at longer, healthier lives.

Photos:
TOP: Perfusionist monitoring donated liver.
MIDDLE: Donor liver inside perfusion machine.
BOTTOM: Donor liver being prepared for transplant.