Machine Preservation Significantly Improves Kidney Transplant Survival Over 3 Years Compared to Traditional box of ice

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Organ Recovery Systems

22 Feb, 2012, 18:57 GMT

CHICAGO, February 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Study results published today in the New-England-Journal of Medicine  show that 3-year graft survival is significantly greater in all transplanted kidneys machine perfused in the LifePort® Kidney Transporter compared to those stored in a traditional box of ice (static cold storage) (91% vs. 87%, p=0.04).[1] The graft survival difference at three years was most pronounced for kidneys from expanded criteria donors (86% vs. 76%, p=0.01). Expanded criteria donors are those over the age of 60 or those over 50 with health conditions such as high blood pressure, stroke or poor kidney function. Over the past decade, kidney donations from expanded criteria donors have increased considerably and today comprise nearly half of the deceased donor kidneys transplanted in the US and EU.[2,3]

When the results are analysed by donor type, they show that 3-year graft survival after machine perfusion compared to static cold storage was also significantly superior for kidneys donated after brain death (91% vs. 86%, p=0.02).

Machine-perfused kidneys with delayed graft function (DGF) - a delay in the recovery of renal function that requires dialysis within the first week after transplantation[2] - had better 3-year graft survival (77%) than cold stored kidneys with DGF (62%).

"It is very interesting to see that the benefits in graft survival seen in this landmark study at 1 year[3] with machine perfusion persist after 3 years compared to traditional cold storage methods," said lead author Cyril Moers, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. "Since a growing number of organs available for transplantation come from older donors or from people with more complex medical conditions, it is particularly welcome that machine perfusion offers significant improvements for 3-year graft survival in kidneys from these donors and is a real step forward in kidney transplantation."

About the trial

  • The Machine Preservation Trial was a landmark, investigator-driven study, run by an independent scientific steering committee across the Netherlands, Belgium and the German federal state of North Rhine Westphalia, in collaboration with the Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation and Eurotransplant International Foundation (the international organ exchange organisation for Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Slovenia) as the central trial assistance desk. Principal investigators were Rutger Ploeg (Oxford, United Kingdom and Groningen, The Netherlands), Andreas Paul (Essen, Germany) and Jacques Pirenne (Leuven, Belgium).
  • The study was the first large randomised, prospective trial to compare machine perfusion with traditional cold static storage.
  • Three-year follow-up data were collected on all 672 recipients of consecutive kidneys donated after brain death or after cardiocirculatory death in the main data set, as well as 164 recipients of kidneys donated after cardiocirculatory death in the extended data set. One kidney from each of the 336 pairs included was randomly assigned to machine perfusion, and the contralateral organ to cold storage.
  • Earlier 12 month results from the Machine Preservation Trial, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that in transplanted kidneys preserved and transported in the LifePort Kidney Transporter, the odds of experiencing a delay in recovery of kidney function were 43% lower, and that these kidneys were 48% less likely to fail within a year compared to those stored in the traditional box of ice.[5]

About the LifePortKidney Transporter

LifePort is a device that preserves a donated kidney before it is transplanted. Designed to provide a sealed and sterile environment from the time of recovery until transplantation, LifePort gently pumps a specifically formulated solution through the kidney. This is referred to as 'machine perfusion' and is an important contrast to the traditional method of storing and transporting donated kidneys - packed in a box of ice (static cold storage).

About Organ Recovery Systems

Organ Recovery Systems (http://www.organ-recovery.com) is the world's leading provider of machine perfusion products to the transplant community, supporting over 120 transplant programs worldwide with its LifePortKidney Transporter and organ preservation and flush solutions.

1. Moers C, Pirenne J, Paul, A, Ploeg RJ. Machine perfusion or cold storage in deceased-donor kidney transplantation. N.Eng J Med 2012;366:770-1.

2. Eurotransplant data provided on request.

3. OPTN. Available at http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/ContentDocuments/PG_Scorecard_090611.xls.

4. Johnston TD, Thacker LR, Jeon H et al. Sensitivity of expanded-criteria donor kidneys to cold ischaemia time. Clin Trans 2004;18:28-32.

5. Moers C, Smits JM, Maathuis, MJ et al. Machine perfusion or cold storage in deceased-donor kidney transplantation .N Engl J Med 2009;360:7-19.