Aster DM Healthcare, Bengaluru, recently performed Asia’s first-ever liver transplant using Normothermic Machine Perfusion, a process which can keep a liver alive outside the body for up to 24 hours by maintaining it at body temperature. The surgery —considered the next important step forward in liver transplantation — was successfully performed using OrganOx Metra device technology.
Ashwath, 53-years-old, was suffering from end stage liver disease became the first person in Asia to receive a liver transplant using this state-of-the-art technology. The new Organox Metra device has created a system that allows blood to circulate through the liver. When the organ is in the device that mimics the body, doctors can monitor the blood flow and letting out bile and can better tell how it might work in a patient.
The organ transplant success rate in India is low compared to developed nations in the West, and often this is due to the functionality of organs deteriorating during the preservation stage that lasts up to 12-14 hours.