This should be of interest to all patients, particularly those currently on the kidney transplant waiting list, but also those patients who will potentially be on the list in future.
The Royal Free renal transplant unit are preparing to introduce clinical normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) of kidneys for transplant patients at the Royal Free. This forms part the Royal Free starting as a pilot centre for the NHSBT (NHS Blood and Transplant) Assessment and Recovery Centre (ARC) programme for kidneys, which is due to commence in November 2026.
Most donated kidneys are kept on ice before transplantation. In some cases, a more advanced approach is used, called normothermic machine perfusion (NMP). The kidney is placed on a machine that keeps it at body temperature, supplies oxygen and nutrients, and allows it to function outside the body. This allows the transplant team to assess how the kidney works, perform tests on it, confirm it is suitable, and potentially improve its condition before transplant.
For more information, please click the link below:
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This information is also included in a “patient information leaflet”, in PDF format:
