The first case of ischemia-free organ transplantation in humans: A proof of concept

With great interest we have read the article by Xiaoshun He and colleagues regarding their first patient who underwent successful ischemia-free organ transplantation (IFOT).1 This group transplanted a liver donated after brain death to a 51-year-old patient with decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma without any ischemic episode or interruption of the blood circulation. The graft was procured, ex-situ preserved and implanted under continuous normothermic machine perfusion using the Liver Assist device (Organ Assist, Groningen, The Netherlands). The donor liver had 85-95% macrovesicular steatosis, however there was no post-reperfusion syndrome observed after revascularization of the graft and the recipient had an uneventful recovery. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.