There are two primary options for liver donation.- Liver Donation from a patient who has undergone brain death. (Deceased Donor Liver Transplantation, DDLT)
- Donation of Part of the liver from another person (Living Donor Liver Transplantation LDLT). At AIMS we perform both DDLT and LDLT, However fisrt degree relatives are preferred as donors for LDLT.
Living Donor - Living-donor transplantation entails the removal of a portion of the donor's healthy liver into another person who is in need of transplantation (recipient). A family member, usually a parent, sibling or adult child (above the age of 18 years) or someone emotionally close, such as a spouse, may volunteer to donate a portion of their healthy liver.
This procedure is made possible by the fact that the donor’s body needs only about a third of the liver’s volume for its daily function and the liver's unique ability to regenerate. After transplantation, the partial livers of both the donor and recipient will grow and remodel to form complete organs, usually within three months.
Deceased Donor (Cadaveric Donation) – The donor is a person who is diagnosed as brain dead whose family volunteers to donate the organ for transplantation. People who receive cadaver donors wait on the DDLT waiting list list until a suitable donor becomes available. Waiting times vary depending on the availability of donors as well as the prospective recipient’s health. |