SEK 15 million to test groundbreaking kidney transplantation
There is a significant shortage of kidneys for transplantation. Michael Olausson has developed a method to restore organs damaged by oxygen deprivation that previously could not be used. He has now received a grant of 15 million SEK for a clinical study on the transplantation of these restored kidneys.
Michael Olausson is a professor of transplant surgery at the Institute of Clinical Sciences. His new method has the potential to increase the supply of organs and thereby eliminate the waiting list for kidney transplants.
He has received SEK 15 million from the Jane and Dan Olsson Foundation for Scientific Purposes to conduct a clinical study on the transplantation of these restored kidneys.
“Over ten years, I have developed this new method to restore kidney function from kidneys donated after circulatory death. The research has been conducted on pigs and will now be tested on humans for the first time,” says Michael Olausson.
Restored to the same condition
In Sweden, over 90,000 people die each year. Only a few hundred become kidney donors, all of whom have died in hospitals.
The goal of Michael Olausson’s research is to enable kidneys from at least 6,000 people who die of cardiac arrest outside of hospitals each year to be used for transplantation.
This is currently not possible, mainly because too much time elapses from the potential donor’s death to the transplantation of the kidney into a recipient. The lack of oxygen following cardiac arrest causes the organs to deteriorate.
The new method of so-called reconditioning involves flushing the kidney from a deceased patient with a solution that has the exact composition of salts, the right pH, proper oxygen saturation, the correct pressure, and the right temperature. This halts the degrading processes and allows the kidney to recover.
“We can restore the organs to the same condition they were in before circulation stopped,” says Michael Olausson.
Transplants become cheaper
Without reconditioning, the surgical team has up to an hour to remove the kidney from the deceased person, flush it, cool the organ, and transplant it.
“This requires extensive logistics and leaves little time to talk with relatives. With the new method, there is plenty of time, and the deceased’s kidney does not need to be removed immediately,” says Michael Olausson, and continues:
“In addition, the need for heart-lung machines and other large resources necessary in today’s transplantations is eliminated. Transplants become cheaper and simpler and can be performed in more places, not just in the largest hospitals.”
Thousands could receive new kidneys
If Michael Olausson’s study proves successful, several thousand kidney patients across Sweden will be able to receive a new kidney instead of undergoing time-consuming and costly dialysis treatment.
The first part of the study is planned to start in the fall.
“We hope to complete parts I and II of the study within three years. The project is a collaboration between the ambulance service, the emergency department, the regional donation center in the west (RDC), and the transplant center at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital.”
Text: Jakob Lundberg