How did living-donor liver transplantation begin and how prevalent is it?
Living-donor transplantation was first performed in children as a means to alleviate long waiting times for cadaveric organs. Here less than a quarter of the adult liver needs to be removed for transplantation into a child. This proved to be a very successful procedure all over the world with very little danger to the donor. However adults in need of liver transplantation require a larger segment, as much as half or more of the donor’s liver. This requires a more extensive and complex surgery, with potentially greater risks for the donor. Now adult to adult living donor transplantation has become customary in most parts of the world, but particularly so in Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, India etc where cadaveric donation is uncommon.
