Organ Procurement and Perfusion before Transplantation

Organ transplantation is one of the great success stories of modern medicine. Living-donor kidney transplantations between identical twins during the early 1950s first demonstrated the overall feasibility of this procedure and ultimately paved the way to long-term success. Outcomes improved rapidly with a greater understanding of the immunobiology of graft rejection, with more refined surgical techniques, with scientific advancements in fields related to transplantation, and, most importantly, with the advent and continuous refinement of immunosuppressive agents.Research in the area of organ procurement and preservation began even before the first successful clinical transplantations. Before World War II, in France Alex . . .