It can tell doctors if a marginally sick liver can be considered for transplant

The wait for individuals vying for a liver just got shorter. The city is in receipt of a machine which helps put to use cadaver livers that were earlier deemed unfit for transplant.

Through a process called ‘normo-thermic perfusion’ technology, the Metra device, not just preserves but can also tell doctors if a marginally sick liver can be considered for transplant. A UK-based organisation OrganOx produces the machine.

“Presently, cadaveric liver is accepted based on liver function tests, ultrasound and its pre-operative appearance. Hence a lot of livers get rejected or retrieval is not attempted. With this machine, we can get a real-time picture of quality and functioning of a liver,” said Balachandran Menon, who headed three surgeries involving the machine at Yashoda Hospitals.

The Metra device will be available for use by all hospitals where transplants are performed in the city. The device simulates a human body’s functioning to keep the liver in a condition that would render it fit for use up to 24 hours after harvesting. Patients will have to pay around ₹ 5 lakh if they want a marginally sick liver assessed for transplant.

In Telangana, 1,968 people registered with the State’s Jeevandan cadaver donation programme are waiting for a liver. The rise in demand for an organ is significantly higher than the rate of rise in donations, said G. Swarnalatha, in-charge for Jeevandan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – September 11th, 2018