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Home > Divisions > Transplantation > Living Donor Liver Transplant > What are the advantages of a Livng Donor Liver Transplant?
What are the advantages of a Livng Donor Liver Transplant?
The greatest advantage of an Living Donor Liver Transplant
(LDLT) is that it avoids the waiting time for a cadaver
transplant. Currently, the organ shortage is severe. There
are not enough cadaver livers for all of the patients who
need one. Over 15,000 people are now waiting for liver transplants
in the United States, but only 4,500 transplants are performed
every year. Roughly 20% of patients will die of their liver
disease before having the chance to undergo a transplant.
For those who do end up receiving a cadaver transplant,
the average waiting time is 1 to 2 years (from the day
they are first placed on the waiting list). With an LDLT,
this waiting time can be bypassed, allowing the transplant
to be performed before the recipient's health deteriorates
further - sometimes to the point where he or she is no longer
able to undergo a transplant. If the transplant is performed
before the recipient's health deteriorates, he or she is
better able to tolerate the surgery and recovers more quickly.
Another advantage of an LDLT is that the piece of liver
from the donor may be placed in the recipient immediately
after being removed from the donor. Therefore, the amount
of time that the liver is kept on ice before the transplant
is minimal. In contrast, a cadaver liver transplant may
need to be in storage for several hours. Thus, the chance
of an LDLT graft functioning immediately is probably higher.
Finally, by performing an LDLT, the number of livers available
for transplantation overall is increased. The LDLT recipient
no longer requires a cadaver liver, which can then go to
a patient who does not have a suitable living donor.
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