Adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant: UK experience

BACKGROUNDAdult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation (ALDLT) is being adopted widely in the USA and mainland Europe, fuelled by the increasing waiting lists for cadaver organs. The present report describes the first UK experience with the procedure in patients from overseas who have the lowest priority for cadaver organ allocation. METHODSThe 16 patients seen over the period November 1998 to March 2002 had end-stage cirrhosis from chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (13 cases), with single instances of cryptogenic cirrhosis, secondary biliary cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease. Grafts were left lobe in the first two recipients and right lobe in the subsequent 14 recipients, donated by nine sons/daughters and seven brothers/sisters. RESULTSTwelve of the 16 recipients did well. The four recipients who died had recurrent sepsis; two of these died following hepatic arterial occlusion, and in three major surgical factors were present before transplantation. Serial computed tomography (CT) measurements in the survivors showed regeneration of the grafted lobe with final volumes reaching in each case the calculated standard liver volume for body size. In the donors, liver function tests had returned to normal by day 7–14, with rapid regeneration of the remaining lobe, although the final size attained that estimated before donation in only four donors. CONCLUSIONSALDLT, although requiring considerable facilities and organization, can give good results for both recipient and donor. As with cadaver grafts, outcome in the recipient if the larger right lobe is used is dependent on surgical risk factors and the severity of clinical decompensation before transplantation. Measures to ensure the safety of the donors remain the main concern.