Shortening the Recipient Warm Ischemia Time Could Be a Strategy for Expanding the Liver Donor Pool

Overview

Journal World J Gastroenterol

Publisher Baishideng Publishing Group

Specialty Gastroenterology

Date 2025 Mar 10

PMID 40061597

Authors

Jia-Wei Yu

Lin-Biao Xiang

Xiao-Juan Dong

Chen-Xi Yang

Lei Wang

Xiao-Yu Liu

Yi-Hong Song

Xian-Jie Bai

Jing-Wen Xiao

Lu Ren

Qin-Hong Xu

Gang-Hua Yang

Yi Lv

Qiang Lu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Shortening the recipient warm ischemia time (rWIT) has been proven to be effective for improving the short- and long-term outcomes after liver transplantation (LT) and offsets the negative impact of an extended cold ischemia time. However, few studies have been conducted to explore the prognostic effects of shortening the rWIT in transplantations using a liver graft from an extended-criteria donor (ECD).

Aim: To investigate whether shortening the rWIT could improve the outcomes of ECD LT.

Methods: Rat ECD autologous orthotopic LT were performed with variable rWITs (0, 10, 20, and 30 minutes). Near-infrared fluorescence imaging (FI) was used for the real-time assessment of liver graft ischemia-reperfusion injury after the anhepatic phase. Survival was assessed, and liver function and histological analyses were performed on the third day after transplantation.

Results: The FI curve growth rate and postoperative three-day survival rate significantly increased, and the liver function and Suzuki score of the liver grafts significantly improved when the rWIT was ≤ 10 minutes ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: The post-transplant outcomes were significantly better with a shorter rWIT (10 minutes or less) than with a longer rWIT, which could be a strategy for expanding the liver donor pool.

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