Donor organs stored for four days in transplant breakthrough

Although the technique has so far only been demonstrated in rats, scientists are hopeful that the effect will be reproduced in larger animals and eventually humans.

"To our knowledge, this is the longest preservation time with subsequent successful transplantation achieved to date," said Korkut Uygun, Professor of Bioengineering, at Harvard Medical School.

"If we can do this with human organs, we could share organs globally, helping to alleviate the worldwide organ shortage.

All the rats who had supercooled livers which has been stored for three days survived for at least three months, but none of the rats who had transplants using current methods did.

And the survival rate for animals receiving livers stored for four days was 58 percent.

Extending the length of time in which organs can be kept allows more time to prepare a patient for transplant and reduces the urgency of rushing an organ to its destination.

It also expands the donation area to allow for transcontinental transplants and increases the chances of patients finding better matches.

Dr Uygun said the development could have groundbreaking effects on the current practice of transplantation.

The field of transplantation is facing a serious donor shortage crisis, he added.

The eventual goal of extending the viable preservation time of human organs will contribute toward global organ sharing and increased organ availability.

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Donor organs stored for four days in transplant breakthrough