A team of neurosurgeons and organ transplant specialists discovered that a brain can be revived 50 minutes after removal from the body if connected to a liver.
This breakthrough could enhance resuscitation techniques for ischemic heart attack victims. Typically, the brain can survive without oxygen for only 5 to 8 minutes. In a study involving pigs, researchers used a liver-assisted brain normothermic machine perfusion or NMP system to restore brain activity 50 minutes post-removal. The liver’s role in producing ketones, essential for brain metabolism, proved crucial in improving brain function after cardiac arrest.
This study may lead to advancements in heart transplant and brain injury treatment.