Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Adults Using the Right Lobe

Choi, Sung Ho; Kim, Dong Goo; Moon, In Sung; Lee, Myung Duk; Kim, In Chul

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is one of the recommendable alternatives for cadaveric liver transplantation. However, it requires the balance between the graft volume and donor safety in adult patients. METHODS: We performed the LDLT using the right lobe in 29 adults at the Department of Surgery, Catholic University of Korea from Oct. 2000 to Sep. 2001. RESULTS: The values of postoperative liver enzyme was significantly different according to the remaining liver volume of donors (<30% vs. >or=30%, P<0.05). The mean regeneration rate of the left lobe at postoperative 3 months was 212+/-43% compared to preoperative liver volume. The group that had the remaining liver volume of <35% showed a higher regenerative activity than the group that had remaining liver volume more than 35%. There was no donor mortality and postoperative complications were observed in 7 patients. The mean graft mass was 787 cm3, which was 1.35% of the recipient body weight and 67.8% of the standard liver volume. Twenty-six of 29 transplanted patients (89.7%) survived from operation. The causes of death were varix bleeding, peumonia-ARDS, and portal vein thrombosis. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary data suggest that the LDLT has produced favorable results in short-term period and the survival rate is quite high for patients with end stage liver disease.