The Feasibility and Safety of Normothermic ex Vivo Kidney Perfusion (NEVKP)

A Single Centre Study of the Feasibility and Safety of Using Normothermic ex Vivo Machine Perfusion to Store Human Kidneys for Transplantation.

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for end-stage kidney failure, but access to transplantation is limited by a severe shortage of donor organs. Although the use of kidneys from higher risk deceased donors has increased the availability of organs, these grafts are associated with a greater risk of delayed function, inferior performance, and shorter survival than standard criteria donor kidneys. The current standard of care for kidney graft preservation prior to transplantation is static cold storage. Preliminary results from large animal kidney transplantation studies and a human clinical trial suggest that normothermic machine perfusion of kidneys prior to transplantation may ameliorate the injury sustained by kidney grafts during cold static preservation, allow assessment of organ viability prior to transplantation, and reduce the risk of delayed graft function or non-function. Such a strategy may not only improve the performance of kidneys that are currently considered acceptable for transplantation, but may also facilitate the assessment and utilization of kidneys that are currently not considered for transplantation. This study will examine the feasibility and safety of normothermic ex vivo perfusion of human kidneys prior to transplantation. The study will evaluate kidney function after transplantation using standard clinical parameters. Study participants will be followed for 3 months following transplantation and their outcomes recorded. Feasibility will be measured using the ratio of actual:eligible kidney grafts preserved by normothermic ex vivo perfusion and will also take into account logistical issues with respect to implementation and ease of use of the ex vivo perfusion device. Safety will be assessed by rates of device failure resulting in organ discard, primary graft non-function, delayed graft function, graft failure, and recipient mortality.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Kidney Transplantation
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Normothermic ex-vivo kidney perfusion Solution -Toronto

Detailed Description

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for suitable patients with end-stage renal disease as it results in lower morbidity and mortality rates when compared to dialysis. Unfortunately, the number of patients referred for transplantation has grown more quickly than the number of suitable grafts from deceased donors.

The use of higher risk organs has expanded the donor pool but at a great cost due to the higher probability that higher risk kidneys will never function (primary non-function, PNF), or will have delayed graft function (DGF). The current standard of care for kidney graft preservation prior to transplantation is static cold storage but higher-risk deceased donor kidneys are particularly vulnerable to the effects of cold storage. Preliminary results from large animal kidney transplantation studies and a human clinical trial suggest that normothermic machine perfusion of kidneys prior to transplantation may ameliorate the injury sustained by kidney grafts during cold static preservation, allow assessment of organ viability prior to transplantation, and reduce the risk of delayed graft function or non-function. Such a strategy may not only improve the performance of kidneys that are currently considered acceptable for transplantation, but may also facilitate the assessment and utilization of kidneys that are currently not considered for transplantation.

This study will examine the feasibility and safety of normothermic ex vivo perfusion of human kidneys prior to transplantation. Kidneys will be retrieved in the standard fashion and stored cold during transit. Upon arrival at the study transplant centre, kidneys will begin perfusion with a normothermic near-physiologic, blood-based solution. Perfusion will last 1-10 hours.

The study will evaluate kidney function after transplantation using standard clinical parameters. Study participants (n=25) will be followed for 3 months following transplantation and their outcomes recorded. Feasibility will be measured using the ratio of actual:eligible kidney grafts preserved by normothermic ex vivo perfusion and will also take into account logistical issues with respect to implementation and ease of use of the ex vivo perfusion device. Safety will be assessed by rates of device failure resulting in organ discard, primary graft non-function, delayed graft function, graft failure, and recipient mortality.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 13
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2C4
      • University Health Network

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria (Organ):

• Single kidneys from DBD (donation after brain death) and DCD (donation after cardiac death) donors
• Kidney is subjected to a maximum of 12 hours of cold storage prior to beginning of NEVKP (normothermic ex vivo kidney perfusion)
• Kidney meets parameters that are acceptable for transplantation according to the study transplant centre's current clinical practices.

Exclusion Criteria (Organ):

• Kidneys from living donors
• Kidneys that would be declined for transplantation under the study centre's current clinical practice
• Kidneys with multiple arteries.
• Kidney grafts from donors positive for Hepatitis B surface antigen or Hepatitis C viremia.

Inclusion Criteria (Participants):

• Adult male and female patients (18 years or more), active on the waiting list for kidney transplantation; able to give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria (Participants):

• Patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS)
• Patients with a diagnosis of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, or thrombotic microangiopathy Patients with a calculated Panel Reactive Antibody (cPRA) greater than 95%
• Patients with known allergies to any of the perfusion solution components
• Patients undergoing retransplantation
• Recipients with pre-existing vascular disease posing technical challenges for transplantation
• Recipients with any clinically-relevant positive DSA (donor-specific antibody) identified
• Transplantation of more than one organ (e.g. liver/pancreas and kidney)
• Refusal of informed consent
• Recipients receiving double kidney grafts (i.e. both kidneys from one donor being transplanted into a single recipient)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: OTHER
• Allocation: NA
• Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Normothermic perfusion; Kidneys retrieved from deceased donors will undergo the study intervention consisting of 4-10 hours of Normothermic ex-vivo perfusion using a blood-based solution, prior to implantation in the transplant recipient	Drug: Normothermic ex-vivo kidney perfusion Solution -Toronto; The perfusion "device" will circulate warmed, oxygenated blood-based perfusate ("Normothermic ex-vivo kidney perfusion solution-Toronto") through the kidney.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
the ratio of actual / eligible kidney grafts subjected to study intervention.	planned versus actual kidney perfusions to assess study feasibility	assessed 3 months after enrollment of final participant, or up to 48 months, whichever is earlier
The rate of kidney discard or graft failure attributable to the study intervention	organ discard or graft failure directly attributable to the use of normothermic perfusion	from date of first actual intervention to date last participant completes the study followup period of 3 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
duration of post-transplant dialysis		3 months post-kidney transplantation
rate of primary graft non-function compared to historical, case-matched controls		3 months post-kidney transplantation
Degree of Ischemia-reperfusion injury as assessed by post-reperfusion kidney biopsies	Pre--implantation kidney biopsies will be graded according to standard histological criteria and assess for degree of ischemia-reperfusion injury	assessed 3 months after enrollment of final participant
Rate of delayed graft function		3 months post-kidney transplantation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Health Network, Toronto
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Markus Selzner, MD, Surgeon, MOT, UHN

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Mazilescu LI, Urbanellis P, Kim SJ, Goto T, Noguchi Y, Konvalinka A, Reichman TW, Sayed BA, Mucsi I, Lee JY, Robinson LA, Ghanekar A, Selzner M. Normothermic Ex Vivo Kidney Perfusion for Human Kidney Transplantation: First North American Results. Transplantation. 2022 Sep 1;106(9):1852-1859. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000004098. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): December 19, 2016
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2020
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 8, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 26, 2017
• First Posted (ACTUAL): May 2, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): February 14, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2023
• Last Verified: March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: perfusion
• Other Study ID Numbers: 15-9907-A

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO