Proof of concept: liver splitting during normothermic machine perfusion

Introduction: Despite utilizing extended criteria donors, there remains a shortage of livers for transplantation. No data exists on splitting donor livers with concurrent NMP-L.
Methods: A liver recovered from a donor after circulatory death was subjected to NMP-L using a red cell based fluid. During NMP-L, a ‘classical’ left lateral + right trisegmentectomy split was performed using an integrated bipolar/ultrasonic device.
After splitting, blood flow was confirmed using Doppler ultrasound in each lobe.
Results: Prior to splitting, flow rates were maintained physiologically. Lactate decreased from 13.9 to 3.0 mmol/L. Lactate before and after splitting were similar in the hepatic arteries, portal veins and IVC. Doppler ultrasound demonstrated arterial and venous waveforms in both lobes after splitting.
Conclusions: ‘Classical’ liver splitting during NMP-L is feasible, maintaining viability of both lobes. Establishing this procedure may attenuate cold ischaemic injury, allow pre-implantation monitoring of both grafts and facilitate logistics of
transplanting two grafts.