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Review
. 2017 Jun;22(3):281-286.
doi: 10.1097/MOT.0000000000000403.

Subzero organ preservation: the dawn of a new ice age?

Bote G Bruinsma  1 , Korkut Uygun
Affiliations
Review

Subzero organ preservation: the dawn of a new ice age?

Bote G Bruinsma et al. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Herein, we review the field of subzero organ preservation with a focus on recent developments in hepatic supercooling.

Recent findings: Organ preservation is making a rapid shift from the decade old standard of storage on ice toward techniques that improve organ availability as well as preservation time. Long-term organ preservation would have tremendous benefits to the organ transplantation field, including better organ allocation, donor-recipient matching, as well as reduced preservation injury, and subsequent improvement of donor organ use. The formation of ice has proven an important limiting factor and novel techniques attempt to control or prevent freezing using cryoprotective agents, and highly controlled cooling regimens. Various techniques have been employed over the previous decades, including true organ freezing, vitrification, and subzero nonfreezing or supercooling. For most techniques, successful transplantation following long-term subzero preservation has remained elusive. Supercooling, however, recently delivered the first promising results, yielding survival after up to 4 days of supercooled preservation at -6°C.

Summary: As the field of organ preservation undergoes significant development, the field of subzero preservation also receives renewed interest. Although many obstacles remain to be overcome to make subzero preservation feasible, novel techniques are beginning to show their potential in achieving long-term preservation.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors of this manuscript have conflicts of interest to disclose. Dr. Uygun has a financial interest in Organ Solutions, a company focused on developing organ preservation technology. Dr. Uygun’s interests are managed by the MGH and Partners HealthCare in accordance with their conflict of interest policies.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Pre-supercooling liver perfusion set up
Rat livers are perfused for 60 minutes in a subnormothermic machine perfusion (SNMP) system to load the organ with cryoprotectants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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