II: Ex vivo viability testing of kidneys after postmortem warm ischemia

Future approaches to expand the organ donor pool with marginal and nonheart beating donors, will be dependent upon prospective organ evaluation. Restor ation of metabolism by preservation at warmer temperatures could potentiall y provide the window for such evaluation. Using a small bovine model, kidne ys were subjected to either < 15, < 30 or < 60 minutes of warm ischemia (WI ) followed by cold ischemia (CI) in ViaSpan. After WI and CI, kidneys were transitioned to a warm temperature perfusion (30<degrees>C to 32 degreesC) using exsanguinous metabolic support (EMS) technology. Restored renal metab olism and function was assessed by oxygen consumption, glucose consumption, urine production, glomerular filtration rate, and hemodynamic characterist ics. The results of this study suggest that it is feasible to distinguish v iable from nonviable organs ex vivo by assessing renal metabolism and funct ion during warm preservation using EMS technology.