Living Liver Donor -- Research Summary

BACKGROUND: Currently, almost 18,000 people in the United States are waiting for a liver transplant. In 2005, about 6,500 liver transplants were performed in the United States. The number of liver transplants performed each year has been increasing steadily for the last 15 years. The liver is the second most commonly transplanted organ after the kidney. According to the American Liver Foundation, when a patient receives a liver transplant, his or her entire liver is removed and is then replaced by either a complete new liver or a portion of a healthy liver. The liver is the only solid organ in the human body that can regenerate, so once transplanted, a piece of a healthy liver can grow into a normal-size liver. In most cases, the new liver or liver tissue comes from a deceased donor; however, only about 4,500 cadaver donors become available each year. It is becoming more common for patients to receive liver tissue from a living donor, who may be a family member. In this case, the transplant surgeon removes part of the donor's liver and uses it to replace the patient's liver.

LIVING DONATION HISTORY: The liver was first successfully transplanted from a living donor in 1989. From the procedure's beginning up until recently, it has been performed as an open surgery using a large midline incision known as the "Mercedes" incision. This incision is made under the rib cage and extends across the body and up the midline ranges anywhere from 24 to 30 inches in length. This substantial surgical wound requires close monitoring and a painful recovery. Traditional liver transplant surgeries last about eight hours and require about a seven-day hospital stay and a six-week total recovery time.

A BETTER APPROACH: Living donor transplant is when a healthy person donates part of his or her liver to the recipient. This procedure has been increasingly successful and shows promise as a solution to the shortage of liver donors. It is becoming the most frequent option in children, partly because child-sized livers are in such short supply.

A breakthrough procedure being performed at Georgetown University Hospital's Transplant Institute and International Center for Liver Diseases is making the process of living liver donation much easier on the donor. A new laparoscopic liver resection surgery dramatically reduces scar size, surgical wound complications, pain level and recovery time for those who choose to donate part of their liver to an adult or child with advanced liver disease. Using the new technique, surgeons make two small incisions for laparoscopic tools to be inserted through. The instruments are used to visualize and mobilize the liver. An additional small incision is made so surgeons can position the liver by hand and then remove the donated segment. The surgery takes four to five hours to complete and usually requires about a three-day hospital stay and three-week total recovery time.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:       

Marianne Worley, Director of Media Relations
Georgetown University Hospital
(202) 444-4659
http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org