Severe psychiatric problems in right hepatic lobe donors for living donor liver transplantation.
BACKGROUND
The morbidity and mortality from donation of a right hepatic lobe for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is an important issue for this procedure. We report the prevalence of severe psychiatric postoperative complications from the Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort study (A2ALL), which was established to define the risks and benefits of LDLT for donors and recipients.


METHODS
Severe psychiatric complications were evaluated in all donors from the A2ALL study who were evaluated between 1998 and February 2003.


RESULTS
Of the 392 donors, 16 (4.1%) had one or multiple psychiatric complications, including three severe psychiatric complications (suicide, accidental drug overdose, and suicide attempt).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite extensive preoperative screening, some donors experience severe psychiatric complications, including suicide, after liver donation. Psychiatric assessment and monitoring of liver donors may help to understand and prevent such tragic events.
Trotter
James F
JF
Department of Surgery, University of Colorado, Denver, CO 80262, and Department of Transplant Services, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA. james.trotter@uchsc.edu
Hill-Callahan
Margaret M
MM
Gillespie
Brenda W
BW
Nielsen
Carrie A
CA
Saab
Sammy
S
Shrestha
Roshan
R
Talamantes
Michael M
MM
Weinrieb
Robert M
RM
D000328:Adult; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013405:Suicide; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement