title: Living-donor liver transplantation: impact on donor's health-related quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the health-related quality of life of living liver donors after living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in 55 living liver donors operated on at our center between 2002 and 2009 was assessed using the German Version of the 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Donors after full right-lobe hepatectomy (n=18) scored similarly to and without statistically significant difference from the German reference population, whereas donors after left lateral segmentectomy (n=37) revealed statistically significant higher average score values (P<.005) in the categories of physical functioning, bodily pain, and general health compared with the German reference population. In the analysis between donors after full right-lobe hepatectomy and donors after left lateral segmentectomy no statistically significant difference was observed in any of the SF-36 categories. Postoperative complications of the donors and postoperative recipient mortality were particularly revealing regarding HRQOL. Donors who developed postoperative complications presented a lower HRQOL, especially in the categories of role physical, bodily pain, and social functioning, where statistically significant differences (P<.005) were observed. Similarly, postoperative recipient mortality correlated with lower mean score values in all SF-36 categories, but a statistically significant difference (P<.005) was reached only in the categories of role emotional and mental health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Donors did not regret their decision to donate, because HRQOL was not negatively affected by the donation procedure. Living liver donors scored as well as or even better than the German reference population, but it was clearly shown that the development of postoperative donor complications and the postoperative recipient mortality had a negative effect on the HRQOL of donors.
authors.affiliation: Department of General, Visceral, and Transplant Surgery, Hanover Medical School, Hanover, Germany. kousoulas.lampros@mh-hannover.de
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kousoulas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Emmanouilidis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Klempnauer
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lehner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000401:mortality; D019520:Living Donors / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult