Health officials have backed the NHS use of a revolutionary machine which keeps livers alive before they are transplanted.
Watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidance recommending use of ‘perfusion’ machines before liver transplants.
The technology acts as a ‘life-support machine’ for the organs after they are removed from a donor, pumping them with blood so the tissue does not deteriorate.
This can triple the length of time a liver remains viable outside the body – from as little as eight hours if stored on ice to roughly 24 hours using the perfusion machine.
Experts hope this could significantly increase the number of organs viable for transplant, because it extends the window in which each liver can be used, meaning it is not wasted.
Health officials at NICE have backed the NHS use of a revolutionary machine which keeps livers alive before they are transplanted. Sue Bennett, 45, a mother of three from Ranton in Staffordshire, had a liver transplant using the new technique as part of a trial
At the moment just over 1,000 liver transplants are conducted every year in Britain – but between 300 and 600 people are still left waiting for a procedure.
With 11,000 dying every year with liver disease in England, and deaths up 25 per cent in a decade, transplants are in huge demand.
Surgeons last night described access to perfusion machines – which add about £8,000 to the cost of a £75,000 liver transplant – as a major ‘game changer’.
As well as extending the time available to use each organ, the machines also allow doctors to carry out tests to check their viability.
This will allow surgeons to use organs which they would not have risked transplanting in the past.
Roughly 40 patients have already undergone transplants as part of trials of the machines, but the new guidance should mean they become used far more routinely.
Transplant surgeon Professor Darius Mirza of the University of Birmingham said: ‘In the 30 years I’ve been involved with transplantation there have been three or four events which have been game changers and I’m absolutely certain we are looking at a game changer that will change the way we practice organ storage and transplantation.
‘It is already changing practice at the centres that have been able to use this technology either within clinical trials or within an expansion of service evaluation.’
Professor Kevin Harris, clinical advisor for the interventional procedures programme at NICE, said: ‘This procedure offers hope for patients needing a liver transplant.
‘It offers another way of preserving the liver, and assessing whether livers which might have previously been considered unsuitable, can be used safely.
‘The latest evidence reviewed by a NICE committee concluded that the procedure worked well and was safe to be offered to patients who had been fully informed of the risks and benefits.
‘By using this procedure, more patients on the organ transplant waiting list could be offered a chance of a transplant and thereby potentially extending their lives.’
Vanessa Hebditch, director of policy at the British Liver Trust said: ‘Every year hundreds of people with advanced liver disease die whilst waiting for a transplant.
‘This new device offers real hope as it may improve transplant outcomes and allow livers that were previously thought to be unsuitable to be used and also increase the time that livers are able to be kept.
‘It is an exciting development that has the potential to shorten waiting list times and reduce mortality rates from advanced liver disease. After transplant, the vast majority of people go on to lead full and healthy lives and it is truly amazing to see the transformation.’
The final decision as to whether the machines are funded rests with individual NHS clinical commissioning groups around the country, but the NICE guidance will be hugely influential.
John Forsythe, associate medical director at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: ‘There has been a huge amount of research in the area of preservation and perfusion methods that allow us to both assess precious donor organs and to enhance their function. This could potentially mean the organ works better and improve transplant outcomes.
‘Many of the lead researchers in the area of transplant preservation and perfusion techniques are in UK and it is good to see UK researchers continue to be at the forefront in this field.
‘Transplantation wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of organ donors and their families.’
Sue Bennett, 45, a mother of three from Ranton in Staffordshire, had a liver transplant using the new technique as part of a trial.
She said: ‘Before my transplant I was very ill. I was losing weight, I couldn’t sleep and my quality of life was quite low.’
Now, she said, her life was ‘unbelievably wonderful’.
She added: ‘I’m very healthy, I’m very happy and very active. I think I’ve been very lucky.’