Deutsch researchers claim that they have found a method to increase the odds that kidneys from deceased donors will succeed following transplantation.

The study was published in the Jan. 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Cyril Moers, M.D., of the University of Groningen, and colleagues drew a comparison between results of 336 kidney transplants in which the donated organ was subjected to hyperthermic machine perfusion and the same number of transplants in which the organs were kept in an ice-filled box, the Washington Post reported.

Generally, kidneys from the first category had diminished risks of delayed graft function after transplant, in contrast with the organs stored on ice, the researchers said. 

Kidneys are typically packed in ice for transportation in order not to deteriorate in the interval between the time of patient’s death and the moment they arrive to the right hospital. They are flushed out with a special solution and put into a box filled with ice in order to be preserved "fresh".

In the study, one kidney of each donor was kept conventionally, in the most commonly-used method which involved putting it in a plastic bag of nutrients and keeping it on ice. The other organ had the same nutrients pumped through it by means of a battery-powered box called the LifePort Kidney Transporter.

After one year of follow-up, researchers found that 90 percent of the kidneys that had been kept traditionally were still working, compared with 94 percent of kidneys that had been preserved by using LifePort Kidney Transporter.