Northwestern Medicine introduces transplant device 'Livers in a Box' through perfusion
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Northwestern Medicine is introducing new technology to help more patients get life-saving liver transplants.
"Perfusion" can protect donor organs, making more transplants possible.
There are two types of "perfusion," both warm and cold The organ is attached to a machine that pumps fluids through it.
That helps transplant teams better understand how it will function and better preserve the liver so that surgeons can work more quickly.
"So the preliminary data that we have seen and that most other people that use these devices have seen is that it decreases the complications of the transplant. It tends to decrease the amount of time that a person has to stay in the hospital after a transplant, and it decreases, for example, the need to stay in the ICU," said Dr. Daniel Borja, a transplant specialist at Northwestern Medicine.
In the U.S., more than 10,000 people are on wait lists for liver transplants. So far this year, about half the people needing a liver transplant have gotten one.