A 64-year-old man from Quebec has made history by being the first patient in North America to undergo a liver transplant with a regenerated liver, thanks to a revolutionary technology that could potentially increase the availability of livers for transplant by dozens in its initial year.
Gérard Landry, a resident of Nouvelle in Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, had been battling liver issues for around 15 years, which eventually led to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Prior to his liver transplant surgery, Landry’s doctor informed him of a groundbreaking development: his new liver had been regenerated using a novel machine, introduced for the first time at Montreal’s Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM).
“My doctor shared details about the new machine he had been working on for a few years,” Landry expressed. “It felt like receiving a Christmas present.”
The innovative technology, known as Liver Assist, enables medical professionals to treat and evaluate a donated liver outside the body before transplanting it. In Landry’s case, this allowed him to receive an organ that might have been deemed too risky for transplantation otherwise.
Gérard Landry had been suffering from liver disease and cancer for 15 years. But now, he’s cancer-free thanks to a liver regenerated by a new machine – technology that could lead to more life-saving transplants.
Providing a Chance for Donated Livers to Recover
Dr. David Hénault, a hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon and liver transplant expert at CHUM, spearheaded the project and conducted Landry’s surgery.
He mentioned that the team had been preparing to implement the technology for approximately three years.
The Liver Assist system functions by linking a donated liver to a machine that circulates an oxygen-rich fluid through the organ, aiding in reversing some of the damage caused by oxygen deprivation while the liver is outside the body.
Subsequently, the technology allows medical practitioners to switch to a blood-based solution and assess the liver’s functionality in conditions simulating the human body.
“If the liver performs well on the machine, it is likely to function well in the recipient,” stated Hénault.
Hénault noted that the liver transplanted into Landry was particularly suitable for the technology as it was vulnerable to damage from oxygen deprivation during the transfer process of the organ