News24 | Hope for transplant patients: Africa’s first liver perfusion machine lands at Wits

A R2.7 million liver perfusion machine introduced at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre is expected to change the way liver transplants are performed in South Africa, with specialists saying the technology could help save more lives in a country grappling with severe organ shortages.

On Thursday, the medical centre unveiled the technology, becoming the first transplant centre in Africa to implement liver perfusion for liver transplantation.

The machine keeps donor livers functioning outside the body by pumping oxygenated blood and preservation fluid through the organ, allowing transplant teams to assess, monitor and improve its condition before transplantation.

For a country where donor organs remain scarce, and patients often die while waiting for a transplant, clinicians believe the technology could significantly increase the number of usable livers while reducing complications after surgery.

“There are incredibly long patient waiting lists and transplantation in the country is largely dependent on the availability of deceased donor organs, which remain a very limited resource because of low donation rates,” said Professor Jerome Loveland, head of solid organ transplantation at Donald Gordon.

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Loveland described the introduction of the machine as the latest milestone for a programme that has already performed more than 1 000 liver transplants and achieved outcomes comparable to leading international centres.

“Sadly, there is an ever-increasing trend of deceased donor organs being relatively poor in quality. That predisposes patients to liver dysfunction after transplantation, increased complications and longer hospital stays. The implementation of this machine perfusion programme is the next landmark innovation being introduced by our unit,” Loveland said.

According to the Donald Gordon centre, more than 4 000 people nationally are waiting for solid organ transplants and at the centre alone, nearly 600 patients are waiting for kidney transplants and more than 30 are awaiting liver transplants.

The Donald Gordon centre stated that South Africa’s donor rate remains among the lowest in the world, with fewer than two deceased donors per million people compared with more than 40 donors per million in some countries.

According to transplant surgeon Dr Sharan Rambarran, the country’s shortage of donor organs has forced transplant teams to become increasingly innovative.

“Because donor organs are so scarce, our unit has had to innovate. We have accepted higher-risk or