Small remnant liver volume after right lobe living donor hepatectomy.
BACKGROUND
Right lobe living donor liver transplantation has become a viable option for adult patients with end-stage liver disease, however, the safety of the donor is of paramount importance. One of the key factors in donor safety is ensuring adequate donor remnant liver volume.


METHODS
We retrospectively examined donors who had less than 30% remnant liver volume after right graft procurement. Eighty-six right lobe living donor transplants were carried out in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, from January 1999 to December 2004.


RESULTS
Eight donors had less than 30% remnant liver volume (Group 1) after graft procurement and 78 donors had remnant liver volume greater than 30% (Group 2). There were no differences in donor characteristics, types of graft, operative parameters, and post-operative liver and renal function as well as liver volume at 6 months post-donation between the 2 groups. The graft weight obtained in Group 1 donors was significantly greater compared with that from Group 2 (P<.005). The overall donor complication rate was 6.98%, and all the complications occurred among group 2 donors.


CONCLUSIONS
The judicious use of donors with less than 30% remnant liver volume is safe as a last resort.
Ibrahim
Salleh
S
Liver Transplant Program, Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Chen
Chao-Long
CL
Wang
Chih-Chi
CC
Wang
Shih-Ho
SH
Lin
Chih-Che
CC
Liu
Yeuh-Wei
YW
Yang
Chin-Hsiang
CH
Yong
Chee-Chien
CC
Concejero
Allan
A
Cheng
Yu-Fan
YF
D000328:Adult; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods / Q000473:pathology*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000009:adverse effects*; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed