What is Living-Related Donor Liver Transplantation?
Living-related donor liver transplantation is an option for some families. A living-related donor transplant allows an adult donor to voluntarily give permission to remove a portion of his or her liver to give to a child. (The donor operation itself is long and has potential risks for a normal healthy adult.) A major benefit to living-related donor transplantation is timing. A child waiting for a liver transplant does not have to be placed on a waiting list until a good liver match becomes available; however, not all relatives are good matches with the child. Doctors decide — based on blood type, size and other donor health issues — whether the child and the donor are good candidates for a living-related donor transplant. In general, adults interested in donating a part of their liver need to be at least four times and no more than ten times as big as their child. For example, for a child who weighs 12 pounds, a potential adult donor must weigh under 120 pounds. Living-related donors
