The Bridge to Life study highlights presented as a last-minute oral clinical trial at the 2026 International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 6 to 9, 2026.
DULUTH, Ga., May 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A global multicenter study, the first of its kind, has established the first international reference framework for pediatric liver transplantation (PLT), providing a long-awaited reference framework for morbidity, complications, graft survival, and recipient outcomes in diverse pediatric transplantation populations worldwide.
Presented as a last-minute oral clinical trial at the 2026 International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, this historic analysis addresses one of the most important unmet needs in pediatric transplantation: the lack of standardized outcome criteria globally to guide graft selection, risk stratification, and post-transplantation quality evaluation. For more details, click here for the summary.
Led by Sapana Verma, MD, PhD, under the guidance of Prof. Andrea Schlegel from the Cleveland Clinic, the study analyzed primary pediatric liver transplantations performed between 2000 and 2024 in nine high-volume transplant centers covering North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa/Middle East.
“Internationally accepted benchmarks for pediatric liver transplantation are sorely lacking,” said Dr. Verma. “Our goal was to establish international reference standards for morbidity and survival following pediatric liver transplantation and develop a graft selection decision-making framework based on data in heterogeneous pediatric subgroups.
The reference cohort presented a significantly lower major morbidity, fewer renal, vascular, and biliary complications, as well as shorter hospitalization and intensive care duration. It is important to note that the benchmarking model differentiated outcomes in heterogeneous pediatric populations, thus creating an evolving platform for comprehensive quality evaluation and risk-adjusted outcome analysis.
Researchers plan to expand their work to a multicenter cohort of over 10,000 recipients to establish definitive global reference standards and validate outcome thresholds based on age, weight, etiology of liver disease, graft type, and combined recipient risk profiles.
“This work is very important as pediatric transplantation has never had standardized benchmarks that exist in adult transplantation,” said Don Webber, President, and CEO of Bridge to Life Ltd. “As the field advances towards precise graft assessment, viability evaluation, and optimized preservation strategies such as Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion (HOPE), it becomes essential to have strong reference standards. These reference standards help define not only what success looks like but also how we improve access to safe transplantation for a greater number of pediatric patients worldwide.”
Research involving the Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion (HOPE) VitaSmart system from Bridge to Life demonstrated that HOPE was safe and effective in pediatric liver transplantation, supporting the growing role of machine perfusion and viability-guided decision-making in this highly specialized population.
As pediatric transplantation evolves towards more individualized graft selection and wider use of advanced preservation technologies, these newly established reference standards constitute an essential foundation for the next generation of clinical decisions. While benchmarking defines what is achievable, advanced preservation strategies such as HOPE offer a promising path to bring high-risk grafts closer to benchmarking outcomes.
About Bridge to Life Ltd
Bridge to Life Ltd is a global innovator in organ preservation technologies and solutions, offering leading products such as Belzer UW®, EasiSlush®, and the VitaSmart Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion System. With a focus on product quality, innovation, and accessibility, the company serves key transplant centers and organ procurement organizations worldwide, with which it partners.
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