DeFat

Defatting of donor transplant livers during normothermic perfusion: a randomised clinical trial.

This study is assessing whether new techniques for removing fat from livers can improve the safe and successful use of livers that are retrieved for transplant from donors at risk of having a fatty liver.

About the study

Liver transplantation is the only successful treatment for end-stage liver disease but is limited by a shortage of suitable donor organs. Unfortunately, a third of donated livers cannot be used for transplants, often due to the presence of fat within the liver cells.

Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) is a new technology that stores the liver in very similar conditions to those in the body, which preserves it in better condition than the usual ice-box storage method.

NMP does not completely solve the problem of fatty livers, because fat still remains in the liver cells. The DeFat study will randomly assign 60 livers with a high risk of fatty liver disease to either NMP alone or NMP with fat removal treatment (combination of drugs that release fat from liver cells and a filter which removes the fat from the perfusion machine)

We will assess the safety and feasibility of using NMP with fat removal treatment compared to NMP alone. We hope the results of this study will allow us to design a subsequent, larger study.

• Read more about the study

Sponsor

University of Oxford