[Living donor liver transplantation of the right liver lobe between adults].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Adult living donor liver transplantation has been established in an increasing number of transplant centres during the last few years. Donor safety and risks are important criteria influencing the further development. We report our experience with 43 adult-to-adult right lobe living donor liver transplantations.

METHODS

43 patients (mean age: 49,8 +/- 16,0 years; f:m = 14:29) with end-stage liver disease received a right lobe liver graft from an adult living donor (mean age: 42,4 +/- 13,4 years; f:m = 27:16) between December 1999 and December 2001. An approval by the local ethics committee was obtained prior to the start of the programme and each donation.

RESULTS

None of the donors experienced fatal or long-term complications. The rate of surgical complications in donors (biliary leakage, bleeding) was 9 %. Actuarial recipient survival was 93 % after three months and 88 % after one year. Five patients had to be re-transplanted. Thus the actuarial 1-year graft survival was 79 %. Biliary complications occurred in 14 % of all recipients.

CONCLUSION

According to our experience, living donor liver transplantation of the right hepatic lobe is a safe and effective procedure. Especially for patients in acute and chronic liver failure, who otherwise would have died on the waiting list, this approach offers a life-saving option.