During the past 10 years, there have been many international meetings on
the storage of organs prior to transplantation, and several have led to
the publication of proceedings; there have also been a number of other
books on this subject-. Most of these publications have concentrated on
practical clinical aspects of organ preservation and on empirical animal
experiments directed towards well-defined clinical objectives. Progress
was rapid at first, but it is now generally agreed that there has been
little improvement in techniques during the past 5 years, although
understanding has certainly increased. In 1980 the Tissue Preservation
and Banking Committee of the Transplantation Society decided that a
fresh approach to the problem of improving preservation methods was
needed: it was decided to hold a conference at which an opportunity
would be provided to return to basic principles and to examine some of
the advances that have occurred in recent yelns in areas of physiology
that might be important for further improvements in preservation. The
conference was held in Cambridge, UK, in April 1981 and this book is
based upon the papers presented to that meeting and the work of a small
discussion group that met after the main meeting. The book starts with
six basic review chapters, followed by sections on the effects of
ischaemia and anoxia, and on biochemical and pharmacological aspects of
hypothermia. Chapters dealing with organ preservation by initial
perfusion followed by hypothermia, and by continuous hypothermic
perfusion, follow.