ATC Abstracts

American Transplant Congress abstracts

  • Home
  • Meetings Archive
    • 2020 American Transplant Congress
    • 2019 American Transplant Congress
    • 2018 American Transplant Congress
    • 2017 American Transplant Congress
    • 2016 American Transplant Congress
    • 2015 American Transplant Congress
    • 2013 American Transplant Congress
  • Keyword Index
  • Resources
    • 2016 Resources
      • 2016 Welcome Letter
      • ATC 2016 Program Planning Committees
      • ASTS Council 2015-2016
      • AST Board of Directors 2015-2016
    • 2015 Resources
      • 2015 Welcome Letter
      • ATC 2015 Program Planning Committees
      • ASTS Council 2014-2015
      • AST Board of Directors 2014-2015
      • 2015 Conference Schedule
  • Advanced Search

Salvaging Discarded Livers with Normothermic Machine Perfusion: Is it Worth the Cost?

R. J. de Vries, S. Raigani, C. Carroll, Y. Chen, D. C. Chang, J. F. Markmann, K. Uygun, H. Yeh

Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Meeting: 2020 American Transplant Congress

Abstract number: 163

Keywords: Economics, Liver transplantation, Machine preservation

Session Information

Date: Saturday, May 30, 2020

Session Name: All Organs: Economics & Ethics

Session Time: 3:15pm-4:45pm

 Presentation Time: 4:15pm-4:27pm

Location: Virtual

Related Abstracts
  • Bridging the Gap: Normothermic Perfusion of Discarded Livers Significantly Alleviates the Donor Shortage
  • Factors Predicting Viability Achievement on Discarded Donor Livers Submitted to Extra-Corporeal Machine Perfusion

*Purpose: Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) enables transplantation of discarded grafts with excellent outcomes in clinical trials. The cost of deploying NMP is often cited as the biggest barrier to widespread implementation, especially since large clinical studies do not show clear clinical improvements or overall cost savings for standard criteria donor livers graft. However, the cost-benefit analysis of NMP for salvage of discarded grafts for transplantation has yet to be evaluated.

*Methods: We tested 20 discarded donor livers for viability with NMP to predict the potential salvage rate in a United States sample cohort. The minimum, median and maximum perfusion costs per graft in a back-to-base setting were subsequently calculated, accounting for the price range of perfusion systems, materials and reagents, personnel and facility costs, and for different operative and perfusion durations. Next, we modeled the costs to convert one discarded liver for transplantation as a function of these perfusion costs, and the percentage of livers that met transplantable viability criteria during NMP.

*Results: 55% of the tested discarded livers met the transplantable viability criteria used in clinical trials. The median NMP cost per graft was $15,406, of which 91% were fixed and 9% variable with perfusion duration. Imputing these parameters in our model, the median costs to yield one discarded liver for transplantation with NMP was $28,011. Including additional procurement costs to recover grafts that are currently not recovered for transplant raised these costs to $44,869.

*Conclusions: The median costs to convert one discarded graft for transplantation with NMP are low in perspective to the average $577,100 USD cost of a liver transplant and the monthly $22,675 cost of care for a high MELD-score waitlist patient. Therefore, the costs of NMP should not limit its clinical implementation in efforts to alleviate the donor organ shortage.

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Vries RJde, Raigani S, Carroll C, Chen Y, Chang DC, Markmann JF, Uygun K, Yeh H. Salvaging Discarded Livers with Normothermic Machine Perfusion: Is it Worth the Cost? [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2020; 20 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/salvaging-discarded-livers-with-normothermic-machine-perfusion-is-it-worth-the-cost/. Accessed March 4, 2021.

« Back to 2020 American Transplant Congress

Most Viewed Abstracts

  • This Week
  • This Month
  • All Time
  • Low GFR after Kidney Donation Is Not Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Subtherapeutic Low Tacrolimus Trough Levels (≤3.5 Ng /ml) Are A Risk Factor For Acute Rejection And Creatinine Doubling.
  • Is There a Difference Between DCD and DBD Kidney Transplantation with Similar KDPI?
  • Penis Transplantation: First U.S. Experience.
  • Kidney Dialysis after Heart Transplantation: The Short and Long Term Outcomes
  • Low GFR after Kidney Donation Is Not Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Subtherapeutic Low Tacrolimus Trough Levels (≤3.5 Ng /ml) Are A Risk Factor For Acute Rejection And Creatinine Doubling.
  • Penis Transplantation: First U.S. Experience.
  • A Decade of Donor-Derived Disease: A Report of the OPTN Ad Hoc Disease Transmission Advisory Committee (DTAC).
  • Is There a Difference Between DCD and DBD Kidney Transplantation with Similar KDPI?
  • Penis Transplantation: First U.S. Experience.
  • Is There a Difference Between DCD and DBD Kidney Transplantation with Similar KDPI?
  • Low GFR after Kidney Donation Is Not Chronic Kidney Disease
  • Evidence of a Clinically Significant Drug-Drug Interaction between Cannabidiol and Tacrolimus: A Case Report
  • Kidney Dialysis after Heart Transplantation: The Short and Long Term Outcomes

Visit Our Partner Sites

American Transplant Congress (ATC)

Visit the official site for the American Transplant Congress »

American Journal of Transplantation

The official publication for the American Society of Transplantation (AST) and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) »

American Society of Transplantation (AST)

An organization of more than 3000 professionals dedicated to advancing the field of transplantation. »

American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS)

The society represents approximately 1,800 professionals dedicated to excellence in transplantation surgery. »

Copyright © 2013-2021 by American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.