Patient Education & Diseases
All about liver donation
What Is Liver Donation?
Liver donation allows a healthy person to donate a portion of their liver to someone who needs a transplant. Before donation, doctors assess the donor’s health, liver function, liver anatomy, and fitness for surgery.
Dr. Divakar Jain and his medical team provide specialized care for liver transplant patients and evaluate potential donors. They carefully assess each donor to help protect the health and safety of both the donor and the recipient.
Who can donate liver?
For a deceased donor liver transplant, the family of a person declared brain-dead can contact the hospital to discuss organ donation. The medical team assesses the organs to determine whether they are suitable for transplantation. Doctors allocate the donated liver according to medical needs and transplant compatibility.
For a living donor liver transplant, the donor must meet specific medical and safety criteria. The donor and recipient should have a compatible blood group. Ideally, the donor is a family member.
A living donor must be at least 18 years old. The acceptable upper age limit may vary, often around 50–60 years, depending on the transplant centre’s criteria. Before surgery, doctors assess the donor’s liver function, liver fat, anatomy, and liver volume.
The medical team also evaluates the donor’s physical and psychological fitness. These assessments help determine whether donation is appropriate and whether enough healthy liver tissue will remain for the donor’s recovery.
Blood group compatibility chart for liver transplant
Evaluation of a Liver Donor
The medical team carefully evaluates each liver donor before surgery. This process includes blood tests, imaging studies, and assessments to determine whether the donor is fit for surgery.
Blood tests may include blood group testing, liver function tests, a complete blood count, viral markers, thyroid function tests, and a lipid profile. Doctors may also recommend other tests based on the donor’s health.
In addition, imaging studies may include a chest X-ray, CT scan, or MRI. The medical team also assesses the donor’s heart and lung function. Female donors may need a gynecological assessment, while psychological evaluation helps determine their readiness for donation.
Donor surgery
The surgical teams perform the donor and recipient surgeries simultaneously. Surgeons usually remove the right lobe (60–70% of the liver) or left lobe (30–40% of the liver) and implant it in the recipient.
After donation, the donor’s remaining liver portion usually regenerates and reaches its normal size within 2–3 months. Smaller portions of liver may be required for pediatric recipients.
The surgery generally takes 5-7 hours to complete. Doctors monitor the donor in the ICU for 2–3 days after surgery. Then, they transfer the donor to a hospital room.The total hospital stay is approximately 5-7 days.
Donor safety
The liver has a remarkable ability to regenerate. This means that the remaining liver tissue can grow after a portion of the liver is removed. This natural ability makes living donor liver transplantation possible. However, doctors carefully assess each donor to ensure that the remaining liver volume is sufficient for safe recovery.
How Does the Liver Regenerate?
Liver has a peculiar ability to regenerate. The Greeks knew about it. According to the Greek mythology, Prometheus was punished by Zeus by being chained. Zeus’ eagle used to come and eat a part of Prometheus’ liver. The liver regenerated till being eaten again by the eagle. It is because of this regenerative ability of liver, living donor liver transplantation is possible and safe.
Prometheus’ liver being eaten by Zeus’ eagle
Segmental Anatomy of liver