Minimum graft volume for successful adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure

Transplantation. 1996 Sep 15;62(5):696-8. doi: 10.1097/00007890-199609150-00029.

Abstract

The major limitation of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation is the adequacy of the size of the graft that can be safely harvested from the donor. The present report describes a 22-year-old woman with stage 4 hepatic coma due to fulminant hepatic failure who was successfully treated using a small-for-size left lobe graft from her father. The graft weight was 0.6% of the recipient's body weight, or 25% of her ideal liver weight. Avoidance of warm ischemia, short cold ischemic time, and early treatment of rejection are important elements in optimizing small-for-size graft function. Since the left lobe represents 23-36% of the total liver volume of an adult, it is possible, in most cases, to harvest a left lobe graft of adequate size from a donor of similar size as the recipient.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Hepatic Encephalopathy / surgery*
  • Humans
  • Liver / anatomy & histology*
  • Liver Transplantation / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Organ Size / physiology
  • Tissue Donors