POSTMORTEM ORGAN SALVAGE USING AN OXYGENT(TM) SUPPLEMENTED PERFUSATE

The world-wide shortage of organs for clinical transplantation is caused by the limited existing donor pool of heartbeating cadavers. Attempts to expand into the nonheartbeating cadaver population have been hindered by warm ischemic damage. We evaluated if a new Oxygent(TM) (Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp.) supplemented perfusate could be used to salvage canine kidneys postmortem. The kidneys preserved in the Oxygent perfusate could be maintained in situ for time points ranging from one eight hours postmortem; enough time to declare death and obtain consent for organ donation. In contrast, the control kidneys yielded abnormal histologic findings and impaired flow dynamics. These results suggest the new perfusate may have significant potential to expand the existing organ donor pool.