Machine that keeps lungs alive outside body could increase NHS transplants

System keeps lungs viable for up to six hours, meaning more patients will be able to receive donated organs A machine that keeps organs alive outside the body could save four in every five donated lungs that currently go to waste in England and Wales. The UK has one of the poorest lung transplantation rates in the world. The latest figures from NHS Blood and Transplant show that 170 patients in the UK, including six children, are waiting for new lungs. Most adults wait a year for a transplant and some wait two years or more. Up to a fifth of adults awaiting an urgent transplant die within a year of joining the transplant list, before a suitable lung is found. But only 23% of all donated lungs are used, with donated lungs sometimes declined not only because of organ quality but due to staffing and theatre capacity issues. Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommends that the XVIVO perfusion system be used in the NHS for a four-year period to assess its effectiveness and value for money. Nice estimates that the machine could help rescue four in five donated lungs that are currently unused, by helping them remain viable for transplantatio