Risks of donation and quality of donors' life after living donor liver transplantation

The purpose is to clarify risks of donation and quality of the donor's life after living-related donor liver transplantation (LDLTx). Sixty-eight donors were classified into four groups: lateral segment group (n = 30); left lobe group (n = 18); left lobe with the middle hepatic vein group (n = 11); right lobe group (n = 9). We investigated (i) the risks of donation, and evaluated the following: blood loss, operation time, postoperative liver function and duration of hospitalization; (ii) quality of donors' life: donors were mailed a structured questionnaire and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), a generic measure assessing quality of life using eight scales. The results were: (i) there were no differences in liver function and duration of hospitalization between four groups; (ii) 48 donors (71%) responded. All donors returned to normalcy. The donors did not regret their decision to donate except two cases whose recipients had died. The donors' life was almost guaranteed regardless of the lobe we used as the graft.