From September 8th till September 11th the XXXVII Annual Meeting of the European Society for Artificial Organs ESAO was held in Skopje (Macedonia). Organ Assist was represented in Skopje with a special organized lunch symposium. Five specialist were invited by us to present their benefits and experiences with organ preservation.
We were very happy with the presence of Prof.R.J.Ploeg (Groningen), Prof.B.Barrou (Paris), Prof.T.Minor (Bonn), Dr.C.van de Wauwer (Groningen) and Dr.E.Flores-Vilalba (Barcelona). Prof.Ploeg was the chairman of the meeting and also presented his results with the Kidney perfusion. Some highlights and conclusions: “Machine perfusion is one of the future area’s of improvement in transplantsurgery”. Conclusion after trial of Machine Perfusion versus Cold Stroage method: “In all common types of deceased donor kidneys, Machine Perfusion reduces Delayed Graft Function and improves graft survival.
Dr.E.Flores-Vilalba (Barcelona) had a very interesting presentation about the early result of their study in Barcelona using the Liver Assist. Normothermic, ex vivo perfusion and reconditioning of donor livers has given very good preliminary results. Besides the improved results also the reduced size of the used machine was very positive. The Liver Assist takes a lott less space then conventional perfusion machines. The results of the trial will published soon.
Prof.B.Barrou (Paris) also presented good preliminary results form the trial of using preservation machines. Thanks to the use of a preservation device the common hospital stay of the patient was reduced. The data of the trial will be presented as soon as the writing of the publication is finished. Prof.T.Minor had a very interesting presentation about preservation of donor livers using organ persuflation with oxygen.
Dr.C.van de Wauwer presented the results of the Groningen trial on improvement and perfusion of non heart beating donor lungs. These result were generated after the use of the Lung Assist. A possitive improvement of the lungs has been proven. Results of this trial will be published after the finishing of the trial.
Overall it was a very interesting and successfull lunchtime symposium in Skopje. Good and positive results were presented and have given a positive base for organ preservation in the upcomming future.
