What is live donor liver transplant?
Live liver transplant entails removing the right lobe of the donor’s liver (about 60 percent of the total liver) and implanting it into the recipient. Following surgery, there is a rapid regeneration of liver tissue, which allows both the donor and recipient livers to regenerate to nearly full size. Donors are usually relatives or someone with strong emotional ties to the recipient. One benefit of this procedure is that it is performed when the recipient is in the “best” condition, before physical deterioration can occur while waiting for a suitable donor. Secondly, live donor liver transplantations shorten the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list, allowing other patients without a potential live donor to move up on the list. Live donor liver transplantation offers the possibility of transplant to an additional 5 percent of all patients on the UNOS waiting list, but a much larger percentage of patients at Lahey Clinic. Liver transplant numbers: Since inception of the li
