Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Device Keeps Liver Alive Outside Body For 24 Hours

Posted by timothy on from the pure-whiskey dept.

kkleiner writes "A new device will keep a liver alive outside of the human body for up to 24 hours. Developed at Oxford, the OrganOx circulates oxygenated red bloods cells and nutrients through the liver while maintaining the proper temperature. Doctors estimate that this new technique could double the number of livers available, saving the lives of thousands who die every year awaiting transplant."

10 of 62 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a minute by WOOFYGOOFY · · Score: 4, Funny

    If the subject is a liver then in what sense is it remarkable that they're kept alive?

    1. Re:Wait a minute by necro81 · · Score: 2

      It is good if you can keep it alive, because it keeps it viable for transplant to a dying patient for longer. So keeping the liver alive longer means more people receive transplants, so more people live longer, fuller lives.

  2. cool, but the Ex Vivo Lung is just breathtaking by knopf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At the Toronto General Hospital they have a full lung living outside the body. They talked about it in this short TED segment. Ex Vivo Lung: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2EmuyHoMAI

  3. Try the brain next by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Head in a jar, here we come!

  4. Right tech/wrong place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I need a device to keep my liver alive inside my body.

  5. Re:Figures they'd do the liver first by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because you know, all those people with defective, cancerous, or physically-damaged livers don't really need the second chance, either.

    Yes, you've been told through all thirteen years of your life that drinking and abusing drugs can damage your liver. That doesn't mean it's the only way a liver can be damaged.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. Perhaps they didn't have a choice? by Junta · · Score: 3, Informative

    The liver is one of the more resiliant organs (the only one that can regenerate). It's probably the easiest organ to start with.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  7. The problem isn't just supply by Albanach · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is quite specific to liver transplants in the United States. Here most patients who die while awaiting a liver transplant have had an offer of a donor liver. 55% of patients who die have had the offer of a high-quality donor liver.

    Increasing supply will always be a good thing, but there are huge issues to be addressed in making sure those on the US wait list for a liver transplant actually get a transplant from the available organ supply. It seems patients and doctors are turning down way too many good organs.

    "Our data show that the current liver allocation system has provided one or more transplant opportunities to nearly all candidates before death/delisting. Therefore, simply increasing the availability of de-ceased donor livers or the number of offers may not substantially reduce wait-list mortality." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22841780

    1. Re:The problem isn't just supply by hedwards · · Score: 2

      It gets worse when you realize that the shortages are the result of including people that couldn't be given a transplant even if there were a perfect match available right now. Either they're no longer healthy enough or they're otherwise not cleared for the transplant. In either case they're kept on the list to bolster efforts to get more organs.

      Which is problematic because in the US the standards employed to ensure that the system doesn't turn people into organ donors when there's still a chance of saving them doesn't work very well. The doctors doing the transplant are sometimes representing both the dieing and the individual needing the transplant. What's more, in many places they're changing the standards so that it's opt out and good luck if you happen to be taken to a hospital that doesn't have a record of you not wanting to give up your organs, or where you have specific wishes you want respected.

      I don't mind the idea of my organs being harvested, I just don't care for having somebody else making those sorts of decisions without proper consideration for me.

  8. Transplants & cancer by coyote_oww · · Score: 2

    I have had a liver/kidney transplant. The MELD scoring process determines who get the next liver available. Blood type is considered, transplants match blood type, even though this is not strictly technically necessary, because otherwise, type O (universal donor, anyone can use type O) patients would be on longer lists then other blood types - it's a fairness problem. MELD score considers various blood test score indicators for how sick you are. The sicker you are, the higher score you get, and thus higher on the "list". Other factors will be considered, to adjust for "sick" that doesn't show up in the blood tests. Early stage liver cancer will usually move someone up on the transplant list.

    Caveats:
    1) you have to be well enough to survive the operation, and well enough to have good prospects for reasonable survival beyond the surgery. You'll inactive until you recover sufficiently.

    2) you have to have NOT demonstrated mental instability (not attributable to liver disease) that would cause you to be unable to maintain the post-transplant drug regimen - this will get you off the list until such issues are resolved. Attitude, doctor shopping, and any behavior that makes the transplant team unhappy can qualify. Follow your doctors instructions! Note that liver disease does commonly cause mental issues in it's end-stages, so the assumption is that your ok, till you demonstrate otherwise.

    3) Cancer: you can have a limited amount of cancer of the liver (since they will replace the liver anyhow). There are specific criteria about how many lesions and how big they can be. Too little gives you a smaller MELD score (and you have to wait till they get bigger). Too much, and your off the list. Other cancers will generally put you off the list entirely, as the immuno-suppressant regimen will cause the cancers to take off like wildfire, resulting in a shorter overall lifespan. In support groups for transplant-list patients, announcing you have been diagnosed with liver cancer can lead to minor celebrations, which is a bit weird, but makes sense given how the system works.

    4) Infections must be eliminated, again, because the immuno-suppressant regimen will cause them to take off. Off the list till eliminated.

    5) Recreational drugs and alcohol. None. Top 2 causes of liver failure are cirrhosis and hepatitis - primarily brought on from drinking and intravenous drugs. They do blood tests for metabolites monthly, or more often, to ensure that you're behaving. No point in a new organ if you haven't eliminated the habit that destroyed the old organ. Plus, people generally look at that as unfair (see Mickey Mantle, one of the drivers for the MELD reform).