title: Transplantation of a 2-year-old deceased-donor liver to a 61-year-old male recipient.
abstract: The suitable size of a graft is a key element in the success of liver transplantation. A small-for-size liver graft is very likely to sustain a significant degree of injury as a result of ischemia, preservation, reperfusion, and rejection. Usually, small-for-size grafts are a concern in living-donor liver transplantation rather than in deceased-donor liver transplantation. Here, we describe the successful transplantation of a liver from a 2-year-old deceased donor to a 61-year-old male recipient who suffered from liver failure related to hepatitis B. No report of successful deceased-donor liver transplantation with discrepancies between donor and recipient age and size to such an extent has been found in the literature. Despite unusually large discrepancies, with effort in minimizing the ischemic time, revised surgical techniques, and strong regenerative power of the "young" graft, the old patient's liver function gradually returned to normal. This again proves that the definition of a "suitable graft" evolves with time and experience.
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Wing Chiu
authors: WC
authors: Dai
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: William W
authors: WW
authors: Sharr
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Kenneth S H
authors: KS
authors: Chok
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Tan To
authors: TT
authors: Cheung
authors: State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: James Y Y
authors: JY
authors: Fung
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Albert C Y
authors: AC
authors: Chan
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: seechingchan@gmail.com.
authors: See Ching
authors: SC
authors: Chan
authors: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; State Key Laboratory for Liver Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Chung Mau
authors: CM
authors: Lo
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D014019:Tissue Donors
keywords: deceased-donor liver transplantation; graft-weight-to-recipient-weight ratio; pediatric donor