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Role of perfusion machines in the setting of clinical liver transplantation: A qualitative systematic review
Author(s) -
Lai Quirino,
Melandro Fabio,
Rossi Massimo,
Ruberto Franco,
Pugliese Francesco,
Mennini Gianluca
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
clinical transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.918
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1399-0012
pISSN - 0902-0063
DOI - 10.1111/ctr.13310
Subject(s) - medicine , machine perfusion , liver transplantation , perfusion , transplantation , surgery
Growing enthusiasm around machine perfusion ( MP ) in clinical liver transplantation ( LT ) may be the preamble for standardized practice to expand the donors’ pool. The present systematic review investigated all the liver transplantations performed using grafts treated with MP . A systematic review of 309 papers was performed. Eventually, 27 articles were enrolled for the study. A total number of 173 cases were reported. Only 12 cohort studies were identified: the remaining ones were case reports or case series. Hypothermic machine perfusion was performed in 102 (59.0%), normothermic machine perfusion in 65 (37.6%), and controlled oxygenated rewarming in the remaining 6 (3.4%) cases. Donor characteristics, evaluation of graft quality, and endpoints were not homogeneous among the studies. Overall, post‐ LT results were excellent, with 1.2 and 4.0% of patients experienced primary non‐function and ischemic‐type biliary lesions, respectively. Conclusion: Until now, no study exists that addresses the role of MP in selecting liver grafts available for LT . All the published studies mainly focused on the feasibility and safety of this new technology. Further research investigating the selection process of marginal donors is required.