Hynek Mergental

TL;DR: Normothermic machine perfusion of the liver improved early graft function, demonstrated by reduced peak serum aspartate transaminase levels and early allograft dysfunction rates, and improved organ utilization and preservation times, although no differences were seen in graft or patient survival.

TL;DR: This first report of liver transplantation using NMP‐preserved livers demonstrates the safety and feasibility of using this technology from retrieval to transplantation, including transportation, and may be valuable in increasing the number of donor livers and improving the function of transplantable organs.

TL;DR: Viability assessment of high‐risk grafts using NMP‐L provides specific information on liver function and can permit their transplantation while minimizing the recipient risk of primary graft nonfunction, which may increase organ availability for LT.

TL;DR: The VITTAL clinical trial as discussed by the authors used normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) to objectively assess livers discarded by all UK centres meeting specific high-risk criteria, which enabled successful transplantation of 71% of discarded livers, with 100% 90-day patient and graft survival; it does not seem to prevent nonanastomotic biliary strictures in livers donated after circulatory death with prolonged warm ischaemia.

TL;DR: The UK DCD Risk Score is a reliable tool to detect high-risk and futile combinations of donor-and-recipient factors in DCD liver transplantation and offers a great potential for making better decisions on which DCD graft should be rejected or may benefit from functional assessment and further optimization by machine perfusion.