Mumbai-based surgeon and liver transplant specialist, Dr. Darius Mirza, was part of a UK initiative that developed a ‘preservation’ machine, ‘OrganOxmetra’ that helps keep a liver ‘alive’ for up to 24 hours after donation. Recently, and for the first time in Asia, the machine aided doctors in Bengaluru to ensure that the liver was in ‘good condition’ before being transplanted in a liver-failure patient. A team of doctors, along with Dr. Darius have conducted clinical trials on the machine since 2013, and so far successfully performed over two hundred transplants.
At present in India, harvested livers are stored in a cold box, and it is advisable to use a liver within eight to 10 hours after retrieval. Besides, many scientists fear that the cooling and subsequent revival before transplant affects the donated organ’s capability. “As this machine keeps the donated liver working at body temperature, there is no such fear,” said Dr Mirza, who shuttles between Apollo Hospital in Nerul and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Courtesy: TOI