Static cold storage is a simple and reliable method of graft preservation, which has been the backbone of organ preservation, allowing transplantation to establish itself as a treatment option worldwide for patients with end-stage organ dysfunction. However, the ice-box method is associated with various limitations including inevitability of ischemia-reperfusion injury, difficulty in assessing graft function, limited opportunity for organ repair. With the increasing number of organ transplantation cases during the last 5 decades, the gap between organ supply and demand has grown significantly. Organ shortage has urged transplant centers to extend the criteria of organ acceptance to increase the donor pool, while, as expanded criteria grafts are more susceptible to injury, there is potential for primary non-function, postoperative complications, or graft loss. Ex-vivo organ perfusion has recently emerged as a promising strategy not only to alleviate graft injury but also to serve as an extracorporeal platform for organ reconditioning and graft assessment.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together research papers of ex-vivo graft preservation and perfusion regardless of organ (lung, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, vascularized composite tissue) and perfusion strategy (normothermic, sub-normothermic, hypothermic, oxygen delivery), in order to facilitate the understanding of history and current status of ex-vivo organ treatment/evaluation as well as to highlight the current challenges, unanswered questions and future perspectives. In the context of urgent shortage of donor grafts as well as increasing number of ongoing preclinical/clinical studies focusing on ex-vivo preservation/reconditioning, we believe this article collection within the section of Organ and Tissue Preservation in Frontiers in Transplantation will be quite timely, valuable, and insightful.
The aim of this Research Topic is to collect manuscripts focusing on the ex-vivo graft preservation and reconditioning. The scope of this specific collection includes organ preservation and machine perfusion in the experimental/clinical transplantation of lung, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, vascularized composite tissue. We welcome submissions of experimental animal study, opinion, personal perspective, narrative review, clinical experience, case-series as well as clinical study covering, but not limited to, the following sub-topics.
-Pathophysiology of tissue injury during cold preservation.
-History and recent advances of organ preservation solution.
-Animal experiment or clinical application of machine perfusion (normothermic, sub-normothermic, hypothermic) as well as the technical/clinical challenges to be solved.
-Therapeutic ex-vivo reconditioning of graft including pharmaceutical, gene therapy, cell-based therapy, nanoparticle, hepatic defatting, etc.
-Current status, challenges, and perspectives of sub-zero organ preservation.
-Functional assessment of the graft during machine perfusion and biomarkers.
Static cold storage is a simple and reliable method of graft preservation, which has been the backbone of organ preservation, allowing transplantation to establish itself as a treatment option worldwide for patients with end-stage organ dysfunction. However, the ice-box method is associated with various limitations including inevitability of ischemia-reperfusion injury, difficulty in assessing graft function, limited opportunity for organ repair. With the increasing number of organ transplantation cases during the last 5 decades, the gap between organ supply and demand has grown significantly. Organ shortage has urged transplant centers to extend the criteria of organ acceptance to increase the donor pool, while, as expanded criteria grafts are more susceptible to injury, there is potential for primary non-function, postoperative complications, or graft loss. Ex-vivo organ perfusion has recently emerged as a promising strategy not only to alleviate graft injury but also to serve as an extracorporeal platform for organ reconditioning and graft assessment.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together research papers of ex-vivo graft preservation and perfusion regardless of organ (lung, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, vascularized composite tissue) and perfusion strategy (normothermic, sub-normothermic, hypothermic, oxygen delivery), in order to facilitate the understanding of history and current status of ex-vivo organ treatment/evaluation as well as to highlight the current challenges, unanswered questions and future perspectives. In the context of urgent shortage of donor grafts as well as increasing number of ongoing preclinical/clinical studies focusing on ex-vivo preservation/reconditioning, we believe this article collection within the section of Organ and Tissue Preservation in Frontiers in Transplantation will be quite timely, valuable, and insightful.
The aim of this Research Topic is to collect manuscripts focusing on the ex-vivo graft preservation and reconditioning. The scope of this specific collection includes organ preservation and machine perfusion in the experimental/clinical transplantation of lung, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, vascularized composite tissue. We welcome submissions of experimental animal study, opinion, personal perspective, narrative review, clinical experience, case-series as well as clinical study covering, but not limited to, the following sub-topics.
-Pathophysiology of tissue injury during cold preservation.
-History and recent advances of organ preservation solution.
-Animal experiment or clinical application of machine perfusion (normothermic, sub-normothermic, hypothermic) as well as the technical/clinical challenges to be solved.
-Therapeutic ex-vivo reconditioning of graft including pharmaceutical, gene therapy, cell-based therapy, nanoparticle, hepatic defatting, etc.
-Current status, challenges, and perspectives of sub-zero organ preservation.
-Functional assessment of the graft during machine perfusion and biomarkers.
