Hypothermia in organ donors may improve kidney transplants

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Monday, August 3, 2015

The same technique which saves people after cardiac arrest and stroke may help improve kidney transplants.

A new study shows that cooling the bodies of deceased donors before the organs are transplanted helped those kidneys start up faster.

In almost half of kidney transplants, there's a delayed start - and sometimes those organs never function completely.

But in this test, the mild hypothermia worked so well, the trial was stopped early so all patients could get it.