Perfused Liver Utilisation Study (PLUS)

The Perfused Liver Utilisation Study (PLUS) follows on from the COPE liver perfusion study, and was designed to explore the effect of availability of Normothermic Machine Perfusion (NMP) on organ utilisation. The study was run by the University of Oxford, and involved all seven UK liver transplant centres. It was funded by a grant from the NIHR i4i Challenge Awards, and supported by the NHSBT Clinical Trials Unit.

The study utilised a "threshold crossing" design to determine whether routine availability of NMP can improve functional utilisation (transplantation with one-year graft survival) of poorly-utilised livers compared to routine static cold storage. We recruited 1056 liver offers, comparing outcomes to a real-world control cohort of 2,465 offers.

Preliminary results from the study were presented at the British Transplantation Society Annual Congress in March 2025, and a manuscript is currently being prepared for publication. A full health economic analysis will follow.

For more information on the study, please see the PLUS Study website.