OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM — Preserving livers in warm storage similar to body temperature rather than cold storage improves transplant success a clinical trial has found. <br /><br />Transplant livers are normally kept prior to surgery, however many become damaged and unusable as a result, according to the BBC. The findings were published on April 18 in the journal Nature. <br /><br />For the study, researchers kept donated livers "alive" in a perfusion machine, pumping the organs with blood, nutrients and medicines. <br /><br />The trial involved 222 liver transplants at seven European medical centers. It looked at cold transplants versus warm livers connected to a perfusion machine. <br /><br />The participants were randomly picked to receive a liver warm liver or one preserved on ice. <br />The scientists found 50 percent less tissue damage in the warm livers. They also found that warm livers had a higher transplant success compared to cold ones. <br /><br />Only 16 out of 137 warm livers had to be discarded, compared to 32 out of 133 cold ones.<br /><br />Researchers hope the study can help reduce the number of people that die waiting for transplants each year.
