A new R2.7m liver perfusion machine that could save more lives has been introduced at the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre, making it the first transplant centre in Africa to use the technology, reports TimesLIVE.
The machine, introduced through a partnership between the centre, Surgeons for Little Lives and corporate sponsor Weelee, keeps donor livers functioning outside the body while doctors assess and improve their condition before a transplant.
It is currently the only device of its kind on the continent, said Professor Jerome Loveland, head of solid organ transplantation at the medical centre.
Doctors said the technology could increase the number of donor livers available for transplant, reduce complications and improve survival rates for patients waiting for life-saving surgery.
The centre boasts one of Africa’s leading liver transplant programmes and has performed more than 1 000 such operations.
“As a transplant programme, our responsibility extends far beyond the operating theatre,” Loveland added.
“This technology will help us better assess donor organs and increase the number of livers that can safely be transplanted, while improving results. In a country where every donor organ matters, this will have a significant impact on organ utility and patient outcomes.”
Dr Sharan Rambarran, a transplant surgeon at the medical facility, said the new technology gives doctors far more information about the condition of a liver before surgery.
“Traditionally, organs are preserved on ice and assessment is limited. Machine perfusion allows us to monitor how the liver is functioning outside the body,” he said.
“Beyond the valuable information it provides, the machine has the ability to resuscitate the liver by delivering oxygen to the liver cells, creating the best metabolic environment outside the body. This helps us make more informed clinical decisions and potentially increases the number of organs that can safely be transplanted.”
While doctors welcomed the technology, they stressed that organ donation remained critical to saving lives, and that boosting public awareness about organ donation remained one of the most important steps in improving access to life-saving transplants in the country.
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