Liver "kept alive" outside of body for transplant

Summary: A team of British doctors and scientists have developed a machine that keeps a donated liver "alive" outside the body which may allow donated organs to be stored for longer periods of time. Normally, an organ can only be stored for a maximum of twenty hours. However, doctors usually throw out organs older than fourteen hours old, and many livers are slightly damaged by the freezing process used in storage. This new machine uses three units of red blood cells and keeps the liver in conditions similar to those inside the human body. It also collects information about the stored liver and determines whether it is too damaged for a successful transplant. This is important because around 2,000 donated livers are disposed of due to freezing damage, compared to the 1,500 Americans that die each year from the lack of a liver donor. This machine would significantly reduce both numbers, and allow for many more people to survive their diseases and continue healthy life. So far two transplants using livers stored in the machine have succeeded, and twenty more successful transplants would allow the machine to be mass-produced and sold. 

Connection: We have learned about what the liver does in class and how it is related to the digestive system. The liver produces bile, which helps prepare fats for digestion by separating fat droplets and preventing clumping. We also talked about organ transplants and how it is hard for people to find a "matching organ" due to the antibodies on each organ

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Sources:

Reuters: by Kate Kelland on 5/15/2013

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/15/us-liver-device-transplant-idUSBRE92E0SI20130315

Slate: by Jason Bittel on 4/10/2013

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/04/10/liver_kept_alive_outside_human_body_for_transplant_in_a_world_first.html