Most patients receive a liver from a person who has been declared brain dead due to a natural event or trauma. These donors are referred to as cadaveric donors. Patients who receive livers from these donors have to wait until they reach the top of the list in their region.

But some patients with advanced cancers or advanced liver disease cannot afford to wait for a cadaveric donor to become available. A potential option for these patients is living donor liver transplantation. Since the liver can be cut in half, and since it can regenerate, people who are large enough with standard anatomy can donate half of their liver to another person. Generally the person donating half of their liver is a close relative or, occasionally, a close friend. The donor has to undergo blood work, a stress test, a CAT scan and an arteriogram to determine if they can donate. If they are considered an acceptable donor upon the completion of these tests, the donor and recipient surgeries are performed simultaneously by two teams here at Rush.

The survival following living donor transplant is the same as it is for patients receiving a cadaveric liver. However, patients undergoing a living donor transplant tend to require more additional surgeries following their transplant. There are also risks to the donor — usually minor complications. However, major complications have been reported in some instances, including liver failure and even death. The surgeons at Rush will discuss the details of these risks with all potential donors and recipients.