Living-donor liver transplantation: present status and future perspective

J Med Invest. 2005 Feb;52(1-2):22-32. doi: 10.2152/jmi.52.22.

Abstract

About 15 years have passed since the first liver transplant from a living donor (living donor liver transplantation: LDLT), and the status of the procedure has since been established as a standard cure for end-stage liver disease in Japan where liver transplantation (LTx) from deceased donors has not yet been accepted. However, the following problems are surfacing with the increase in the number of LDLTs between adults: graft size mismatching, an ABO blood-type incompatible transplantation, the expansion of LDLT indication to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the relapse of hepatitis C after LDLT, marginal donors, and the freedom from immunosuppressive treatment. In this article we outline the present conditions of these problems and the future view of the LDLT.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • ABO Blood-Group System
  • Blood Grouping and Crossmatching
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / surgery
  • Hepatitis C / surgery
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Liver Neoplasms / surgery
  • Liver Transplantation / adverse effects
  • Liver Transplantation / history
  • Liver Transplantation / methods*
  • Liver Transplantation / trends
  • Living Donors*
  • Tissue and Organ Procurement

Substances

  • ABO Blood-Group System