The Nation : Solution Extends Life of Donated Organs

Du Pont Pharmaceuticals announced it has won Food and Drug Administration approval for a preservative that triples the time livers and pancreases can be kept alive outside the body before transplant. The company and scientists that developed the solution say it will allow more of these organs to be transplanted and give doctors more time to find the best match for recipients, ensuring greater chances the patient will survive. While previously livers had to be transplanted within 10 hours and pancreases within eight hours of being removed from a donor, livers preserved in Du Pont’s solution can be kept alive for more than 30 hours and pancreases up to 28 hours, said Dr. Folkert Belzer, a professor of surgery, who led the University of Wisconsin researchers who developed the solution.