Is left lobe adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation ready for widespread use? The US experience (1998-2010).
OBJECTIVE
Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is an accepted treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease. To minimize risk to the donor, left lobe (LL) LDLT may be an ideal option in adult LDLT.


METHODS
This study assessed the outcomes of LL-LDLT compared with right lobe (RL) LDLT in adults (1998-2010) as reported to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).


RESULTS
A total of 2844 recipients of LDLT were identified. Of these, 2690 (94.6%) underwent RL-LDLT and 154 (5.4%) underwent LL-LDLT. A recent increase in the number of LL-LDLTs was noted: average numbers of LL-LDLTs per year were 5.2 during 1998-2003 and 19.4 during 2004-2010. Compared with RL-LDLT recipients, LL-LDLT recipients were younger (mean age: 50.5 years vs. 47.0 years), had a lower body mass index (BMI) (mean BMI: 24.5 kg/m(2) vs. 26.8 kg/m(2)), and were more likely to be female (64.6% vs. 41.9%). Donors in LL-LDLT had a higher BMI (mean BMI: 29.4 kg/m(2) vs. 26.5 kg/m(2)) and were less likely to be female (30.9% vs. 48.1%). Recipients of LL-LDLT had a longer mean length of stay (24.9 days vs. 18.2 days) and higher retransplantation rates (20.3% vs. 10.9%). Allograft survival in LL-LDLT was significantly lower than in RL-LDLT and there was a trend towards inferior patient survival. In Cox regression analysis, LL-LDLT was found to be associated with an increased risk for allograft failure [hazard ratio (HR): 2.39)] and inferior patient survival (HR: 1.86).


CONCLUSIONS
The number of LL-LDLTs has increased in recent years.
Division of Organ Transplantation, Department of Surgery, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. reza.saidi@umassmemorial.org
Reza F
RF
Saidi
Nicolas
N
Jabbour
YouFu
Y
Li
Shimul A
SA
Shah
Adel
A
Bozorgzadeh
D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States