Tuesday’s Health Report: New technologies are helping to preserve livers prepping for transplant [Video]

BATON ROUGE —  When it comes to organ donations, every second counts. Time is often the biggest factor when it comes to a viable organ.

That is why new technology is being used to help preserve livers before they are transplanted.

“Many have seen the ice coolers that we use to store the organ between the donor and the recipient. And when we get back to the transplant center, we take the organ off of ice and do the transplant, but ice storage is not the healthiest way of sustaining an organ that’s going to be transplanted. And so, the new machine perfusion technologies that we have keep the organ somewhat alive between the donor and the recipient,” said Dr. David Reich, surgical director at the Cleveland Clinic.

Perfusion makes it possible to pump oxygenated blood or solution through a donor’s liver outside the body. That can help improve the …