Frozen liver

I think it is not a bad idea if we can froze human livers, so one day the delay of liver between donation and transplant operation can be prevented. Good ha? A+ for the Israeli Scientists Team. They still need to do some more works though.

After all the procedures had done, I had to see one more doctor for the final review before my liver transplant. He is a Russian doctor, speaks English as my level (means... sometime good, some time bad. The different is, he is MD and I am BSc. ha ha ha to you Helen!), nice personality and likable. He explained to me, (with his hand raised in the air like a plane), "When the plane with your new liver weeeeeeeeeee, in the air, the transplant doctors will start open your belly, ah your chest!, any questions?" (I love Shands at Florida University Hospital, I rally do. They are friendly and happy people there). You need liver transplant, consider DR. Alan W Hemming at Shand, UF . He is a good, very good doctor. You can internet about him and his works. If you looking for GI doctors, there are DR. David Nelson and Dr. Souldavella Pico.)

I blinked my eyes, (not rolling the eyes, I do not like adult rolling the eyes. I think it is so unprofessional!, especially in men), and asked him "HOW WILL I BE IF THE PLANE WITH THE LIVER CRASH??"... I can see his face, this might be the only question or the first question for his entire MD life being sked by a very educated woman like me ha!. He said after much pause, "Do not worry, it's never happen. You will be take good care of it"....I comforted my self saying... "Well..if happen, the doctor will close my belly back!" Finito, Esta bien e otra vace! Guess what's happened? I think after 6 or 8 months of my transplant, there was a plane with organ for transplant crashed! was in Breaking News. I hope not the patient's belly is opened and waited. Honestly my thought go for donor, receiver, the pilots and also the doctors, the nurses who are working hard. It's not an easy works for all of them. Hope the frozen liver will prevent the opened chest too.

Thanks the Lord for my matching liver came in one month and 20 days. I want to mention here that "I am still and often praying for those who are in still waiting list! Jim, you are still in my thought and prayer".

Got the article from my Google News.

Page last updated at 17:00 GMT, Wednesday, 1 October 2008 18:00 UK

Frozen liver transplant success

Chilled organs only last for around 24 hours

The successful thawing and transplantation of a frozen pig's liver could bring the technique one step closer for humans.

Israeli scientists, reported New Scientist magazine, used a "slow freezing" method which preserved the organ without damaging it. They believe a "bank" of frozen organs, ready for transplant, would be possible.

A UK expert said more work would be needed to prove the method was safe.
In terms of transplanting it into human patients, there is still some way to go Mr Keith RiggBritish Transplantation Society Organ donation schemes have to work fast to match organs with patients who need them, as, even if kept chilled, they can become unusable within 24 hours.

Researchers have been looking for ways to preserve them by freezing, to cope with delays between donation and transplant operation. The main problem with freezing is the formation of jagged ice crystals in the water inside cells, which can them and their contents.

The scientists from the Israeli Agricultural Research Organisation in Bet-Dagan employ a far slower system, cooling the organ by just 0.3 degrees celsius a minute. This reduces the formation of crystals, and freezing an entire liver takes about an hour and a half. A similar technique is used by some frog species during hibernation when some parts of their body are allowed to freeze.

In this experiment designed to test whether a liver could survive the method, the pig organs were frozen, then immediately thawed and transplanted into another animal alongside their existing liver.

Working together Two hours later, the recipient pig was killed and the liver checked for signs of life. The results were initially published in the journal Rejuvenation Research.

They found that the transplant liver had regained some signs of blood flow, and was producing a bile-like liquid, hinting that some of its functions had returned. However, because it was working in tandem with the existing liver, and was only left working for a couple of hours, the research did not show whether it could recover all its functions, and work independently to keep the animal alive.

The researchers now plan to carry out further experiments to test this. Mr Keith Rigg, a transplant surgeon and vice president of the British Transplantation Society, said that the work was "interesting", but had not yet convinced him that it could work in humans. "In terms of transplanting it into human patients, there is still some way to go." He said that, with demand for donated livers exceeding supply in the UK, there was probably no need for a "bank" of frozen organs.

"We have fairly good transport time across the UK, so these delays are not so much of an issue - although this might be different across the rest of Europe."