Liver Transplants: Extra Info

Jan. 25, 2007 — -- The following information about living liver donors comes from the Mayo Clinic.

The number of patients awaiting liver transplantation in the United States greatly exceeds the supply of cadaver donor organs.

More than 15,000 patients are currently registered on the liver transplant waiting list of the United Network for Organ Sharing, while only about 4,500 cadaver donor livers become available for transplantation each year.

Cadaver donor organ availability appears to have reached a plateau despite many initiatives intended to increase organ donation.

The waiting time for liver transplantation has increased steadily each year, rising from approximately one month in 1988 to more than a year in 1999. Currently, more than one-third of patients in the U.S. wait longer than two years for a liver transplant, and more patients die each year while waiting.

There is a critical shortage of donor organs, and this problem will continue to worsen in the foreseeable future.

The results of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants throughout the world are excellent. At least 275 of these operations had been performed in the U.S. by early 2000, and several hundred more in other parts of the world.

The living liver donors are hospitalized about a week after the operation and have only occasionally required blood transfusion. Nevertheless, the donor operative procedure is a major operation and not without risk.

The donor is also at risk for temporary problems related to the surgical incision and the possibility of blood clots. The great majority of donors, however, have enjoyed a complete recovery within a few months of their operations, and tremendous satisfaction from giving a loved one their "gift of life."