Living-donor liver regeneration The donor's remaining liver regrows and returns to its normal size, volume and capacity within a couple of months after the surgery. At the same time, the transplanted liver portion grows and restores normal liver function in the recipient.
The liver is the only organ in the body that can replace lost or injured tissue (regenerate). The donor's liver will soon grow back to normal size after surgery. The part that you receive as a new liver will also grow to normal size in a few weeks.
Your liver will begin to regenerate immediately after surgery and will be back to normal size in six to eight weeks. Your recovery after discharge will be closely monitored with routine clinic visits and laboratory tests.
What does the operation involve? During the procedure, a portion of the donor's liver (as much as 60 percent) is removed, leaving the “plumbing” like bile ducts and blood vessels, intact. Over a period of about 6 weeks, both the donor's and recipient's livers will regenerate, growing to their normal size.
As some of you may know, when someone donates part of their liver, the other part grows back to its original size within a year. If like me you were wondering whether the regenerated part can be donated again, it can't.
A living donor's liver fully regrows within 4 months and will ultimately regain full function. The donated portion does the same for the recipient. A liver from a deceased donor may also be split and transplanted into 2 recipients.
If you are going to be a liver donor, you should stop drinking. If you have a history of heavy alcohol use, it is very important to tell our doctors. Alcohol use may not preclude you from being a donor, but you may need a liver biopsy to be sure your liver has not sustained any damage.
Since human cells are especially sensitive, donor livers are stored above freezing at 4 degrees Celsius. As a result, doctors can typically only preserve human livers for nine hours before the chances of a successful transplantation drastically decrease.
People who have a living-donor liver transplant seem to have fewer medical problems after the procedure than those who receive a liver from a deceased donor. A liver from a living donor also has a longer survival rate.
Recovery from Living Liver Donation. Liver donors do not typically experience any serious long-term complications, in part because the liver is unique among the body's organs in its ability to regenerate. After giving part of one's liver, it will eventually return to close to its original size.
In otherwise healthy patients, the liver is capable of regenerating up to half its mass in 30 days. If other issues are present, the liver may begin to scar, or regeneration may stop before the liver is completely regenerated.
Several studies reported that female donor to male recipient grafts seems to have a worst prognosis in particular for liver [11–13] and heart transplantation [14]. In particular, in a recent single-center retrospective study, Schoening et al.
If your liver transplant was due to an alcohol-related disease, you must never drink alcohol again as you risk harming your transplanted liver. This also applies if alcohol was thought to have contributed to your liver disease, even if it was not the main cause.
Liver donation risks
Living liver donation may also cause bile leakage, narrowing of the bile duct, intra-abdominal bleeding and, in rare cases, inadequate growth of the remaining part of the liver.
Improved Outcomes: Recipients of living donor livers have an average 5 percent better long-term survival rate than recipients of deceased donor livers.
To be evaluated as a potential liver donor, you must be:
At or able to reach a BMI below 33 before surgery. Willing to avoid consuming alcohol for at least six weeks before and three months after surgery. A nonsmoker for at least six weeks before surgery.
You don't have to have the exact blood type as the person who needs a new liver, but you need to be what's called "compatible." This can be figured out with a simple blood test.
How do I qualify to be a living donor? Generally, you should be between the ages of 18 and 60. You cannot be pregnant, a smoker or overweight. Smokers have an increased risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary complications with any surgery.
Medical Grounds
Alcoholics historically have been considered unsuitable for liver transplantation because of their presumed high risk of relapse to excessive drinking after transplantation.
Criteria for live donation of a liver:
Must be free from the following: Significant organ diseases (i.e., heart disease, kidney disease, etc.) Ongoing malignancy (cancer) Hepatitis.
Your belly and side will be sore for the first 1 to 2 weeks after surgery. You also may have some numbness around the cut (incision) the doctor made. It is common to feel tired while you are healing. It may take 2 to 4 months for your energy to fully return.
The long-term outlook for a liver transplant is generally good. More than 9 out of every 10 people are still alive after 1 year, around 8 in every 10 people live at least 5 years, and many people live for up to 20 years or more.
Donors must have a compatible blood type and liver anatomy that is suitable for donation. Potential liver donors must not have any serious medical conditions, such as liver disease, diabetes, heart disease or cancer.