Liver grafts from extended criteria brain death donors are associated with higher dysfunction rates after
transplantation. HOPE of the liver can reduce the incidence of graft dysfunction and failure in ECD grafts, although data from prospective studies are very limited.
In this monocentric, open-label, randomized study, patients undergoing transplantation from an ECD liver graft were randomized to receive a liver after HOPE or after static cold storage alone (SCS group). The primary endpoint was the incidence of early graft dysfunction. The secondary endpoints included graft and patient survival and the rate of graft or other graft-related complications.
Patients in the HOPE group had a significantly lower rate of early graft dysfunction. The survival analysis confirmed that patients in the HOPE group were associated with higher graft survival, with lower re-admission and overall complication rates, in particular cardio-vascular adverse events.