Machine Perfusion of Donor Livers for Transplantation: A Proposal for Standardized Nomenclature and Reporting Guidelines

With increasing demand for donor organs for transplantation, machine perfusion promises to be a beneficial alternative preservation method for donor livers; particularly those considered to be of sub-optimal quality, also known as extended criteria donor livers. Over the last decade, numerous studies researching MP of donor livers have been published and incredible advances have been made both in experimental and clinical research in this area. With numerous research groups working on MP, various techniques are being explored, often applying different nomenclature. The objective of this review is to catalog the differences observed in the nomenclature used in the current literature to denote various MP techniques and in the manner in which methodology is reported. From this analysis, we propose a standardization of nomenclature on liver MP to maximize consistency, enable reliable comparison and meta-analyses of studies. In addition, we propose a standardized set of guidelines for the reporting of methodology of future studies on liver MP which will facilitate comparison as well as clinical implementation of liver MP procedures. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.