Practical Considerations of Right Lobe Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Adults
The practice of living donor liver transplantation in adults has developed rapidly over the past five years and brings with it a set of unique technical and ethical challenges. The evaluation of potential donors focuses on their health and motives, and the results of noninvasive imaging, with the ob...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2004-01-01
|
| Series: | Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2004/750706 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The practice of living donor liver transplantation in adults has developed
rapidly over the past five years and brings with it a set of unique
technical and ethical challenges. The evaluation of potential donors
focuses on their health and motives, and the results of noninvasive
imaging, with the objective of ensuring the best outcomes for both
donors and recipients. Graft volume is critical to success, and venous
outflow reconstruction is paramount, although there is no consensus
on the preferred method. Biliary tract complications occur in 30% of
recipients. Complications that may interfere with recovery or delay
the return to well-being occur in one of every four or five donors. The
precise risk of donor death cannot be stated with certainty because
comprehensive data on all cases are not available. It is clear, however,
that donation of the right lobe of the liver carries with it a much
greater risk of mortality than kidney donation. The paucity of details
reported on donors who have died make it impossible to determine to
what extent the deaths were preventable. The option of living donation
is an invitation to expand the criteria for recipient selection to
include, for example, patients with tumours that exceed traditional
transplant guidelines. The risk-benefit ratios for donors become especially
problematic when post-transplant recipient survival is below
current standards. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0835-7900 |