Cryopreservation of a whole liver

Preservation of vascularized organs such as the liver is limited to 24hrs. before destructive processes disqualify it for transplantation. This narrow time window prevents surgeons from performing optimal pathogen screening and matching tests which often lead to re-transplantation. Numerous problems are associated with viably freezing and thawing a whole liver: complicated geometry, poor heat transfer, release of latent heat and the difficulty of generating a uniform cooling rate. Our past success led us to apply our novel freezing technique to a larger solid organ, the liver. Whole livers were frozen/thawed using a directional solidification apparatuses; viability was tested by means of integrity and functionality in vitro and in auxiliary liver transplantation. Thawed livers were intact with over 80% viability; histology revealed normal architecture, bile production and blood flow following auxillary transplantation where normal. Our results suggest a novel cryopreservation method and may enable better organ donor-recipient matching in the futur