Safety evaluation of donors for living-donor liver transplantation in Chinese mainland: a single-center report.
OBJECTIVE
To discuss the safety of donors during living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) and the authors' experience with 50 cases.


METHODS
Between January 1995 and March 2006, 50 patients with end-stage liver disease received LDLT in our department. Donors (at the age of 27-58 years) were healthy and antibody (ABO)-compatible. The protocol of evaluation and selection of donors, choice of surgical methods and strategy applied in the safety evaluation of donors were analyzed.


RESULTS
A total of 115 candidate donors were evaluated for LDLT at our center. Of these, 50 underwent successful hepatectomy for living donation. The elimination rate for donors was 43.5%. Positive hepatitis serology and ABO incompatibility were the main factors for excluding candidates. All donors recovered uneventfully. The follow-up time ranged from 3 to 135 mo. The incidence of major and minor medical complications was 12.0% and 28.0%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
LDLT provides an excellent approach to the problem of donor shortage in China. With a thorough and complete preoperative workup and meticulous intra- and postoperative management, LDLT can be performed with minimal donor morbidity.
Li
Guo-Qiang
GQ
Liver Transplantation Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. liguoqiang@medmail.com.cn
Zhang
Feng
F
Li
Xiang-Cheng
XC
Sun
Bei-Cheng
BC
Cheng
Feng
F
Ge
Wen-Gang
WG
Wang
Xue-Hao
XH
D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
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