Living-donor liver transplantation: an overview

J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2006;13(5):370-7. doi: 10.1007/s00534-005-1076-y.

Abstract

It has been 16 years since the first successful living-donor liver transplant was performed from a parent to a child. The overall recipient and graft survival, together with a low morbidity and mortality in donors, have resulted in the widespread acceptance of the procedure by both the transplant community and the public at large. Adult-to-adult living-donor liver transplantation has been evolving over the past decade. Despite living-donor transplant patients being better-risk candidates than those who receive a graft from a deceased donor, and well-established and experienced units achieving satisfactory results, overall recipient and graft survival recorder by registries can only be described as suboptimal. This, combined with the high morbidity and not-insignificant mortality amongst donors makes expansion of adult-to-adult liver transplantation hard to justify on a risk-benefit analysis.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attitude
  • Ethics, Medical
  • Graft Survival
  • Humans
  • Liver Transplantation* / mortality
  • Living Donors*
  • Survival Rate