Each year 11,000 patients are added to the liver transplant waiting list, yet only 7,000 received a transplant from a deceased donor. Because of the organ shortage, patients have to get very sick before they get a liver transplant, which impairs their quality-of-life, and places them at significant risk of dying before they even get a transplant.
There is another way......
Patients have the option of receiving part of a liver from a living donor. This allows them to get transplanted sooner, before they get too sick, and takes away the possibility of dying waiting for a deceased donor organ to become available.
Taking a portion of the liver is possible because the liver has the amazing ability to regrow. Just three months after surgery, the donor and recipient have a fully regrown liver.
Read on to learn more about why living donor liver transplant may be your best option.
Benefits of a living donor
There are many benefits for those who choose to receive their new liver from a living donor including:
- Getting off the waiting list, and to a transplant sooner
- There are approximately 16,000 people nation-wide waiting for a liver transplant. Unfortunately, this means there are more people in need of a liver than livers available.
- It is not possible to determine an exact wait time for a liver transplant. More importantly, most patients have to get so sick before they get to the top of the waiting list, and are always on the edge of dying or becoming too sick before a donor becomes available. A living donor liver transplant allows a patient to get transplanted sooner, when they are healthier, and before they deteriorate physically.
- Getting to transplant healthier
- Since a living donor liver transplant will allow you to spend less time on the waiting list, you’re more likely to receive your new liver when you’re healthier – before your liver disease progresses even further and before the liver disease affects other organs.
- Having more transparency
- With living donation, you have the ability to get complete health and social history from your donor. The living donor evaluation assesses all potential risks to the donor, and how certain donor health characteristics can affect you (the recipient) to best determine if this is safe for both of you.
- Doing the scheduling conveniently
- If you’ve ever talked with a transplant recipient about what their day was like when they got the call that a deceased donor liver was available, they will likely use words like “hectic” and “stressful”. Flexible scheduling around you and your donor’s schedule eliminates the guess work around when your transplant will happen
How living donor liver transplant works
In a living donor liver transplant, 50 to 65 percent of a healthy person’s liver is removed and transplanted into a specific patient.
The liver is an amazing organ! The portion of liver transplanted grows to meet the recipient’s needs, and the portion of liver remaining with the living donor grows to meet their needs. The regeneration begins almost immediately and is almost complete in just a few months.
Here are a few important points to consider:
- Living donors are all thoroughly screened by our transplant team to ensure that they have a compatible blood type, are physically fit and have no significant medical problems.
- Living donors are generally between the ages of 21 and 50 and are a family member, friend or acquaintance of the recipient or their family.
- Having a potential living liver donor does not affect your status on the liver transplant waitlist. You will remain on the list until the living donor liver transplant takes place.
What does that mean for you? When you receive a living liver transplant, your new liver will have obtained medical clearance, and it will be from someone you know and feel comfortable with. Once the donor has been approved, your living donor liver transplant can be scheduled.
What does that mean for your donor? You don’t need to fear “taking away” their liver; your donor’s liver will grow back to nearly normal size within a few months after donation. Your donor will also be able to return to normal activity soon after the procedure.
Who qualifies for a living donor living transplant?
If you are a candidate for a liver transplant, then there is a good chance you could also be considered for a living liver donor transplant. Check with your doctor to see if living liver donation is right for you.
Stop waiting and start living
Ready to learn more, or take the next step? Trust Penn Medicine’s Transplant Institute with your care. Not only are we the only team in the region actively performing living liver transplants and deceased donor transplants, but we are also the region’s most experiences liver transplant center.