National Leaders in Living-Donor Liver Transplant
As the national liver transplant waiting list continues to grow, 15 to 25% of patients with liver disease will not make it to transplant. Patients face increased time on the waiting list as their health continues to decline.
Many patients, including those with low model for end stage liver disease (MELD) scores or advanced liver cancers, do not qualify for the liver transplant waiting, thus eliminating their opportunity to receive a deceased donor transplant.
During a living-donor liver transplant, a living person donates a piece of their healthy liver to another person to replace their unhealthy liver. The re-growth of liver cells in the remaining portion of the liver occurs in a short period of time for both donor and recipient.
What Does this Mean for Your Patient?
Living-donor liver transplantation provides consistent benefits to patients with end-stage liver disease or liver cancer. Advantages include:
- Improved graft survival and patient survival
- A lower incidence of complication
- Less delayed graft function
- Shorter hospital stays
- Better graft function
- Elimination of transplant waiting times
- Decreased cold ischemia injury
- Expansion of the donor pool
At UPMC, we educate every patient we evaluate about the benefits of a living-donor liver transplant. We offer resources to assist patients with identifying a living donor through our Living Donor Champion Program.
Contact the team at the UPMC Liver Transplant Program.
