Liver transplant: details on the procedure with living donor

Liver transplantation is the surgical procedure which is reserved for individuals with severe epatic insufficiency (generally due to cirrhosis of the liver ) and by which a liver is irreparably damaged with another healthy, coming from a compatible donor .

Usually, the "new" liver is taken from a recently deceased donor ; however, there is also the possibility of taking the sample from a consenting living subject . This opportunity derives from the fact that the liver is the only human organ capable of self - regenerating itself after its partial removal.

The first intervention of this type took place in November 1989, at the University Hospital of Chicago, and saw as protagonists a woman and her 2-year-old daughter .

Since then, the technique has been perfected more and more and, over the years, operations between blood relatives of adult age have also been observed.

At the time when the law allowed it, liver transplantation from a living donor became a procedure that could be performed even between two strangers . In the United Kingdom, the first operation of this kind took place in December 2012 .

ENTITY OF REMOVAL

During a living donor liver transplant, the latter is also deprived of 55-70% of his liver . The excision affects the right lobe, which is the largest part of the organ.

In a healthy donor, complete regeneration (both anatomically and functionally) takes 4 to 6 weeks .

In the transplanted, on the other hand, it occurs over a much longer period of time.

POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS

Initially, the living donor procedure raised some doubts, because it exposed two people to possible serious surgical complications.

With the improvement of the technique, the risk of complications has gradually diminished, so that some statistical surveys have revealed that:

In Japan, the risk is almost 0% . The Japanese have perfected themselves in this method, since their religion prohibits the removal of organs from deceased people.
In the United States, the risk is 0.3% .
In Europe, the risk is just under 1% .

Among the problems that could take place, we highlight: