The Ethics of Partial-Liver Donation

Living donors have participated in solid-organ transplantation throughout the 48 years since Dr. Joseph Murray successfully performed kidney transplantation between identical twins. Kidney transplantation from living, unrelated donors is no longer unusual, and some centers allow for anonymous donors or for a donor swap in cases of biologic incompatibility. Surgical advances now permit each of two donors to provide a lobe of lung to a patient with end-stage lung disease from cystic fibrosis. In spite of these advances, it is still not clear exactly how safe it is to donate a large part of one's liver. Altruism is characterized by . . .