Transplantation: Storing Organs

No one knows precisely how many Americans die each year who might be saved by kidney transplants; estimates range all the way from 6,000 to 20,000.

No more than 450 patients receive the transplants, and one reason is that do nor and recipient have to be close to gether, usually in the same medical cen ter, because a kidney begins to deteriorate immediately and will not "keep" more than about four hours.

Last week the University of California's Dr. Folkert O. Belzer described a machine that, he hopes, will keep kidneys in good condition for as long as three days. About...

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