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​What you can expect before the procedure
To be considered for a living-donor liver transplant, both the donor and recipient must undergo a thorough health and psychological evaluation at a transplant center.
Separate transplant teams will care for the donor and recipient during the evaluation process and will discuss the potential benefits and risks of the procedure in detail. Matching of living-donor livers with recipients is based on age, blood type, organ size and other factors.
What you can expect during the procedure:
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On the day of the transplant, surgeons will remove a portion of the donor's liver for transplant through an incision in the stomach.
The specific part of the liver donated depends on the size of the donor liver and the needs of the recipient..
Next, surgeons remove the recipient's liver that's not working properly and place the donated liver portion in the recipient's body.
They connect the blood vessels and bile ducts to the new liver.
The transplanted liver in the recipient and the portion left behind in the donor regrow rapidly, reaching normal liver volume and function within a couple of months.
People who receive a liver from a living donor often have better short-term survival rates than those who receive a deceased-donor liver. But comparing long-term results is difficult because people who get a living-donor liver usually have a shorter wait for a transplant and aren't as sick as those who receive a liver from a deceased donor.
Living liver donation
while a significant decision, doesn't need to be a source of fear. It involves a major surgical procedure for the donor, but the process is carefully managed, and the risks, though present, are well understood. Living donors can significantly impact the recipient's life, potentially saving them from severe illness or even death. The donor's liver regenerates, and they can return to a normal, healthy life.
A living-donor liver transplant
is a surgery in which a portion of the liver from a healthy living person is removed and placed into someone whose liver is no longer working properly. The donor's remaining liver regrows and returns to its normal size, volume and capacity within a couple of months after the surgery. At the same time, the transplanted liver portion grows and restores normal liver function in the recipient.
UHN Living Liver Donation & Transplantation
Patient Education Series Video